Finding What Was Lost
by letterspluslovenotes
Summary: Natsu and Lucy's life had been a beautiful one - two children, a loving home, and amazing friends by their sides. But what happens when Lucy dies and years later their youngest son, Iggy, decides to venture into the past (with the help of Horologium) to warn his mother about her doom? Will he really be able to bring back what's been lost? (Rated T/M)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello my lovelies, welcome to another AU fic done by yours truly c:  
I'm not going to get into so much detail, but I will warn you of one thing: this fic ventures through present and future... a specific character will be VERY ooc in the future, but he has his reasons. ****So don't go bashing me****... read, and you'll figure it out.**

**Also, for new readers who aren't familiar with me... hai :3 I have another fic,**_** I Love College**_**, that deals with a college AU theme. CHECK IT OUT :***

**Btw, this is dedicated to my lovely best friend, Kitty Kat :3 Also known as '****a cookie for nashi'****. Check her Bro!Ship one-shots, mk'?  
Also, a special thanks to both Kat's (a cookie for nashi & ILAUGHATYOUALL) for being lovely beta readers :* I love you both, srsly yo.**

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**Notes**:_ Italicized_ paragraphs are the snippets of the past.

Chapter 1

"Dad, this is the shittiest dinner you've done to date." The fair haired guy stared at the sorry excuse for a meal, a frown appearing on his young face.

"Do I look like a damn cook?!" His father retorted, his head turned towards the direction of his son while his arm outstretched to place another plate on the table.

A girl with pink hair rolled her eyes as she exhaled, making her pink bangs dance, "Ugh, I should've done the food. At least mom taught me how to cook." She grabbed her fork and prodded the unknown substance.

"Too bad you don't actually cook, Nashi, and that's not even possible... you were six." The blonde guy raised his eyebrow, his frown curving into a sly smile as he saw his siblings cheeks brighten. "Say that to my face, you Goofy Goober! All you did was slobber, Iggy!"

Iggy guffawed as he shook his head in awe, "I was three, Nashi. That's what normal three-year-olds do. Unlike you, who spit out flames and practically brought down the damn guild with your 'smokey' tantrums!"

The said girl slammed her calloused hands onto the table, pointing at her brother as small wisps of smoke came out of her nostrils, "YOU LITTLE BRA-"

"HEY! QUIET AT THE TABLE!"

The two siblings piped down, their eyes widening at the sudden outburst their father had. "You know what today is... for your mother's sake, please let's just have a nice meal," Mr. Dragneel looked down at his charred steak and brought his fork onto it, slicing it carefully with his knife and popping the small piece into his mouth. His kids followed, and the sound of utensils hitting the plate filled the air for a few minutes.

"I wish I would've remembered her..." Igneel mumbled, and he breathed out softly and took another piece off of the steak. He looked up, a few strands of his hair covering his hazel eyes. His father was staring at his tall glass of wine while contemplating a response, "That's what picture are for, son."

"Yea, but I wish-"

"Stop talking about her," Nashi interjected, her head bowed low as she pushed the charred meat away from her and stood up, "let it go, Iggy. She's not coming back." Stalking off out of the kitchen, both men flinched as they heard a door slam. Mr. Dragneel breathed out a sigh, muttering to himself an apology towards his wife. Iggy brought his face up and looked at his father, a sad expression to his face, "Dad... maybe if I go back, I can try to..."

Igneel Dragneel flinched for a second time as his father slammed his fist onto the table, his hand turning slightly red as the scar running down his left eye seemed to pulse, "No. For the last time: No. Time travel is strictly forbidden and can completely ruin the present time-"

"Or make it better!"

"I FUCKING SAID NO!" Natsu bellowed, growling to try and fight back the tears that were pushing their way out. His sixteen year old son looked at him with a sour expression now tinting his face, before lifting himself out of his chair and towards the darkened hallway that led to the front door.

Pushing himself away from the table, Mr. Dragneel tried to grab his son's arm only to find air. '_He always was fast_,' Natsu thought, as he heard his son's footsteps reach the door and open it out into the night. Looking at the three barely-touched plates, the middle aged man sighed again, blinking back tears as he brought his elbows on top of the table. "Another fucked up year..." he breathed, tasting salt as he looked up and rubbed his watery eyes with the back of his wrist.

"L-Luce..." the middle aged man whispered, before quickly picking up the plates and setting them by the kitchen sink. He flipped up the faucet handle and let boiling, hot water run, as he began to discard the leftover food. Using the noise of a running faucet, Natsu sobbed; bringing his hands towards the water, he cried even harder as the water burned his skin. The pain he felt was nothing in comparison to what he knew his once wife and already older children felt. He blinked away his tears and turned off the faucet with his elbows, his fingers and palms filled with blisters.

He turned and slid down to the ground, leaning his forehead onto a side cabinet as he cradled his burned hands as he continued his sobbing; _I'm sorry Lucy... I'm so sorry._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"Lu-chan~! You're taking forever! By the time we get to the guild everyone's going to be drunk!" A certain bluenette pouted as she lay belly-down on a pink-comforted bed skimming through her best friends most recent novel, _A Sunflower's Grave_.

"They're probably already drunk!" A muffled voice spoke from behind a closed door. Levy giggled softly as the bathroom door opened abruptly, with a blonde haired young lady stepping out into the room where her best friend lay. "Levy! You've read my book like ten times..." she huffed, as she bounced onto the bed next to her friend. "I know... but I just can't get over the part where Laurence figures out that Tanya has been leaving the sunflowers at his mother's grave, not Clarese!"

Lucy laughed, "I know right? I'm the writer and it even surprised me when I came up with that idea!" The said blonde brought a finger to her chin as she remembered that night, Natsu was gone for another mission and Lucy had finally earned enough peace and quiet to finish up the last pages... with a twist, of course.

Looking up from her reading glasses, the bluenette smiled: Lucy was wearing the lacy white baby doll shirt she had bought her and a pair of black shorts, her feet were warmly kept in white slip-ons and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with only her bangs framing her soft face. "You're glowing you know..." Levy teased, as she sat up and winked at her blushing friend, "Natsu is totally going to be drooling!" The blonde rolled her eyes and laughed along with her friend, both of them getting up from the bed and walking to Lucy's front door.

The celestial mage flipped down the light switches around her apartment and shrugged, "I highly doubt Natsu would notice, he's too busy either picking a fight with Gray or running from Erza." Levy tsked, "You know that's a lie. Ever since you two started dating, he's all 'Luce this!' and 'Luce that!'... I mean, we all know about your constipa-"

"Alright!" Lucy yelled, her face turning red, "I get it! Yes, okay... He'll notice me."

"That's better!" Levy smiled, as she unlocked Lucy's door and held it open for her friend, "Now let's go to your party, birthday girl!"

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

It was raining outside, dark clouds circling in the sky and lighting up randomly as lightning struck. '_What perfect weather_,' the young man thought, as he brought up his grey hoodie to his head and stomped towards the guild. He sniffed, catching a whiff of something burnt as he finally turned out of his home's complex; already knowing his pyromaniac sister was currently punching fire into the big oak tree that grew in their backyard.

Today was a bad day, in fact every first of July was a bad day ever since... '_don't... don't think about it..._' Igneel told himself, as he squinted towards the blurry outline of the guild as it came into view. The rain seemed to get harder, completely shrouding the barely visible guild into a white mist. The blonde guy smiled softly, turning on his heel and watching a blurred figure of a girl coming closer to him.

"You can stop the rain, you know. You don't have to make it rain this hard to grab my attention... plus it doesn't really help the mood," he brought his head down towards the side, his eyes looking as drops of water fell into the puddle next to him; slowly, the drops began to come less and less before disappearing altogether, the reflection of a cloudless night sky being seen in the puddle.

Looking up again, Igneel faced a girl with dark blue locks and matching blue eyes; it was Ame Fullbuster, his recently turned girlfriend. "You could've called," she said plainly, before taking the umbrella that was once on her shoulders off, closing it and making a loud '_wop!_' noise vibrate through the rather empty street.

"And you could've at least warned me of the forecast," he smirked before closing the small gap in between him and his girlfriend, leaning down towards her small stature pecking her softly on her cold cheek. He leaned away from her then, studying her pale face and tickled-pink cheeks, "I kind of enjoy it better when you're wet. You get that model-like look that makes you more appealing than usual."

She spoke monotone-like, just like her father, yet held truth with every word she said - a main reason why Igneel had fallen in love with her. She was only a month younger, her two older twin brother and sister being Nashi's age; apparently Fairy Tail members back in the day got pregnant around the same time, only Mira and Freed's son, Lance, being the eldest in the group. "Thanks," Igneel smiled, subconsciously bringing a hand up to brush the few strands of wet hair tickling his eyes away from his face before looking back down and back towards the guild.

Ame raised an eyebrow, "Iggy..." she spoke, an immediately Igneel turned his face back to hers, "Why don't you just go?" She knew well enough that today, like every year, was a day everyone (specifically the Dragneel family) could not bare. She also knew about the sort of magic that her boyfriend was capable of, using it many times before in the missions they'd go on together; Igneel was the only celestial wizard that could accomplish time travel, or at least used to be.

Time traveling was a very difficult process, a move that he had learned from the spirit Horologium. His mother was in the process of learning this technique before the tragic accident; once Lucy's keys were passed down to Igneel, Horologium resumed his teachings to his next master. Igneel caught on it quickly, and he was able to begin transporting through the dimensions during battles and surprising his enemies. The only rule of thumb was to never try to go through dimension too quickly - splicing could occur.

"Dad said I couldn't... he actually yelled at me and Nashi just walked out of the room and began burning stuff in the backyard," Igneel tapped his booted foot on the gravel, a small '_tap tap_' noise being made. "After the incident that happened with me and time traveling... I'm not exactly allowed anymo-"

"That wasn't supposed to happen, I should've kept my guard up. I..." She had cut him off mid-sentence, but couldn't even finish her own.

_It was their first long-trip battle, two-weeks together should've been romantic if it weren't for the fact that they were being watched by their fathers; 'bonding' time was just an excuse they used to not leave the two recently turned sixteen-year olds alone. They were in the middle of a battle with their enemies, twenty against four, and were surely winning. Ame was drowning a couple of men and hadn't realized that there was a man racing her way with a knife in hand. Seeing the distance, Igneel knew he couldn't reach to her in time to save her... which meant he had no other choice but to call Horologium and skip a dimension to get close to her. Ignoring his spirits pleas to only use this sort of magic for long-term battles, Igneel was brought to and from dimensions and was able to kill the man just before he could stab his girl. _

_Ame turned immediately as she heard an object fall beside her and a pool of blood trickle by her feet, mixing with the water. She screamed in terror as she saw her boyfriend covered in blood: he was missing part of his right ear and a chunk of his right arm, his pinky was now just bone, with blood dripping grotesquely._

Igneel clucked his tongue and brought his hand down to pull her face upwards, "I don't regret it, and you know I don't like you blaming yourself... that's all my father ever does." He smiled softly at her, the pout she sported looking rather cute on her usually solemn face. "Anyways," he trailed, "I don't want to upset Dad again and have him burn down the city if he found out I time traveled."

"But it's not for a short period of time..." Ame whispered hurriedly, her blue eyes boring into Igneel's hazel ones, "And you can change so much... I have so much faith in you, I know you can bring back the happiness." Her boyfriend frowned a little, a crease between his eyebrows furrowing, "the only reason you dated me in the first place was because I was sad all the time..."

Ame rolled her eyes and pulled her face away from his hand, leaving Igneel arm outstretched and holding nothing, "I did not. I like your smile... and everything else... Jus- just try it Iggy! What can go wrong?"

"Actually... a lot, If I'm not careful. I can alter our present," he spoke softly, a bit annoyed at the fact on how Ame only spoke lively when it dealt with this conversation.

"Well it's not like this present is all that great. Try it out. You know I'd cover for you if your dad asks. I can tell him you decided to go on a mission by yourself, a week long one," Ame was already walking, passing her boyfriend without so much as a glance his way and towards the guild, "I'll be doing that now, actually, so don't make me look like a fool."

Igneel followed her form as she walked farther and farther away, a single hand rising up to say goodbye. He shook his head in disbelief, his girlfriend always had dramatic entrances and exits; plus she always pushed him... pushed him to do things he shouldn't.

He looked down onto the belt of his jeans that held a small leather pouch on one side. Slipping his fingers under the latch and feeling his keys, he brought out a single silver one, '_but what if she's pushing me to do something I should?_'

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

"Blow out the candles already, or I'm just going to eat the cake!" Mira whined, as she stared lustfully towards the chocolate-iced double-decker cake. Everyone laughed around her as Freed kiss her forehead softly, before whispering in her ear about her being more polite.

"Pregnant lady is right!" Gajeel hollered, a giant smirk on his face, "We ain't getting any younger!"

Lucy laughed as she tucked a blonde strand behind her ear and closed her eyes and wished, before opening them and blowing all twenty-three candles. "I GOT IT! I GOT THE PICTURE!" Natsu bellowed, running towards his girlfriend of almost a year and planting a big one on her lips, "Luce, I'm a photographer! Look!"

The said blonde laughed while the others crowded around her boyfriend's outstretched arm to see the picture his camera had taken: all that could be seen was Lucy's mouth shaped like an 'o' and the candles of the cake being blown.

"Well that's a shitty photo," Gray mused before earning himself an elbow to the stomach from not Natsu, but Lucy. "I think it's perfect," the blonde smiled, draping her arms over Natsu's neck and giving him a small peck in the cheek.

"Beer anyone?!" Lisanna called, to which everyone including the birthday girl and a few exceeds yelled an 'Aye!'

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

The rain had resumed again, no doubt in the fact that it was Ame's doing. This was good though - it was passed ten and already Igneel had come in contact with Rosey, Nashi's exceed friend, asking her to tell his dad that he'd be at Tetsu's house. Luckily, Gajeel and his father hadn't fought that week, meaning visiting his friends house wouldn't mean a total war. With the weather that was being displayed, Igneel's father wouldn't even consider going out to look for his son; specifically if he was in the safe arms of his friends home.

Making a beeline towards Ame and his usual make-out alley a few blocks away from the guild, he quickly reached the dead end and placed his wet back against the wall. He was breathing hard, a bit nervous about what he was going to do; the last time he had done this, he nearly became deaf and lost over four pints of blood.

_He has a smile on his face as he trampled the enemy to the ground, cracking his neck in the process. He looked up to see Ame looking back in terror, tears filling her eyes as a pool of blood ran through her feet. Staring at her confusingly, he cocked his head, he could see her mouth open, feel the vibrations of her voice, but couldn't hear it properly. He saw a man with pink hair block the view of his girlfriend with his face contorted so much that the long scar that ran from his eye down to his chin seemed to pulse... 'Dad?'_

_Igneel swore he had said his father's name, in fact he could feel his mouth moving... but the noise? He couldn't hear a thing. Gray came into the picture too, a streak of grey adorning his black hair; he had ran towards Ame hugging her and pushing her away from him. Igneel looked back at his father, more confused than before until he saw the color of his father's face turn pale... his onyx eyes staring down at his son's arm. _

_Following his father's eyes, Igneel looked down at his arm or what was left of it. A large chunk of his right arm was missing, strands of muscles and tendons splayed out and the missing half splattered on the ground; blood tainting the ground. The blonde hair boy looked back at his father who was reaching out towards him with tears in his eyes, before everything went black. _

He gulped and blinked hard, trying to forget that day. Looking down at the silver key, he held it out, "Open Horologium, G-Gate of the Clock!" A puff of white smoke appeared, and through it came Horologium, standing tall with an arm outstretched in the form of a 'hello'.

"Master?" It voiced, sensing almost immediately the vibe the celestial wizard was omitting. Igneel's lips formed a tight line, his eye's sad and wondering whether he should disobey his father's orders or not.

Understanding the situation, Horologium bowed and spoke softly, "If Master is unsure, I shall take the lead and drop you in a safe time period. I miss Mrs. Dragneel as well, and hope that with your help she can be returned." Looking up at Igneel, the spirit let his clock hands unwind and blinked once, "I will be dropping you off on the same time only nineteen years ago. just before your sister was born. I can hold you in this dimension for a little over one week."

Blinking, Igneel shook his head, "Nineteen years? But my mother-" the young man was silenced by a long black arm as Horologium spoke, "You shall be a fortune teller. Explain that you foresee a terrible future, and only they can stop it from occurring. The spirits will know of your existence, even if you are going into the past. Do not use your original powers since they will listen to your orders, and you will be caught."

Retracting from his bowed position, Horologium stood tall as he opened his door signaling Igneel to enter. Taking a deep breath, Igneel closed his eyes and made a quick wish before stepping into the Clock.

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

There was a slight breeze, the sweet air of July filling the lungs of a young blonde man as he stood outside the large doors into the guild he would call home in the future. It looked the same as it had back in his dimension, only perhaps a few cobble stones looking brighter than others and some trees missing.

'_Beer anyone?!_' he heard a woman's muffled voice call out, and then a symphony of yells of approval in return. Smiling, he was glad that some things never changed... perhaps it wasn't as rowdy as before, but Fairy Tail was always filled with drunkards and half-naked woman, which usually included Cana and her daughter Mila.

Slowly he brought his arm out, his fingertips touching the iron door handle softly and feeling the familiar cold nip at his skin.

'_Natsu! Don't burn the damn cake!_'  
'_But Luce~! I like it better when it's on fire!_'

Igneel's eyes widen, his breathing momentarily seizing. He wasn't quite sure about the female voice at first, but his hearing was good enough to catch onto his own fathers voice, a little less gruff than usual but definitely his. And he said a name... a name that he heard his father whisper many times before a meal, or in a battle, or even washing dishes: Luce.

Not fully comprehending why, Igneel retracted his hand and took a step back, looking up towards the castle-like guild. Was he ready to see her face? What if he didn't want to return? What if... What if he found happiness right here? But what about his father? He'd surely notice soon... And Nashi and Ame? He couldn't just leave them.

Biting his lip, he brought both his hands up to his short hair and combed his bangs to the side in anxiety. He was about to take a step forward before the double wooden doors opened on their own and two lean bodies crushed onto his.

**.-.-.-.-.-.**

"Who the fuck do you think you are, cooling my cake?!"  
"Who the fuck do you think YOU are for setting my pants on fire!"  
"YOU HAVE NO PANTS, ICE-FOR-BRAINS!"  
"YOU HAVE A SORRY EXCUSE FOR PANTS, FLAME-BRAIN!"

Both men were punching and pushing each other recklessly, while Lucy and the other girls had ventured off to the side to enjoy their cake... specifically Erza. Elfman was screaming for both of them to knock out each others brains while Max went around collecting money from the highest bidder.

Natsu went to give Gray a fiery punch, but was instead greeted with Fullbuster's booted foot to the chest. Flying through the guild, the pink-haired man's back hit the double doors and he bit back the pain; opening his eyes, he was able to only catch a glimpse of Gray's smirking face as he punched him straight in the jaw.

The force of the hit had knocked the double doors open and in turn knocked them both towards the ground. Both waited to feel the cold gravel hit their faces, but were instead greeted with a warm body as their cushion.

A groan went through the air and quickly both men jumped up and off of the poor defenseless victim. Looking down, Natsu was the first to react to the sight of what looked like a teenage boy with baggy wet clothing and a weird smell.

"Sorry! It's was this retard! I swear! Don't say anything to Gramps," quickly, Natsu brought up the dazed boy off the floor and onto his feet while Gray dusted his damp clothes. "Yea!" Gray exchanged looks with Natsu and back at the boy, "Listen we'll pay you kid... whatever you want! Hey, we'll give you a drink too!" Both were going back and forth staring at the blonde haired boy with hazel eyes, one of which was already getting black.

"Are you okay, kid? You seem kind of-" Gray started, only to have Igneel snap back into reality and look towards the man who would be Ame's father in the future. "I'm not a kid, I'm sixteen."

"You're a kid," his father spoke, and immediately Igneel sported a grimace and stared at his father, "Well you're twenty-three and are acting like a kid, so not much of a difference." Raising an eyebrow at the sly kids comment, Natsu growled, "How the hell do you know my age?"

Igneel bit his tongue, not even five minutes had passed and he was already screwing up. The blonde haired boy opened his mouth, but no words came through. Looking at each, Gray and Natsu stared back at the mess in front of them. "Who are y-"

"Natsu, what are you doing?!" a female voice rang through the air and all three men looked back towards the guilds front doors, three girls with folded arms stared menacingly: Erza, Juvia, and-

"_Mom_?" Igneel whispered, his eyes becoming wide (one beginning to close due to his father's punch,) and his mouth ajar: standing in front of him was an average height woman with the same blonde hair and hazel eyes that Igneel owned. Her complexion was soft and adorable, her hips curving voluptuously as her shirt and shorts hugged her frame; a belt was strapped in between the loops . She was as beautiful as the morning sun, once lost but now found again; Lucy Heartfilia, better known in the future as Ms. Dragneel.

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**FINALLY. I AM DONE.  
I hope you enjoy~  
I'm not exactly sure whether I should keep writing more or not... :F**

**P.S. Bare with the dreadfulness of the life I've given the future Dragneels... TROLOL.**

**-Ninaaah**


	2. Chapter 2

**WOW, I cannot believe how many people like/reviewed this story!  
I really didn't think it'd be that good.. but I appreciate all who have reviewed and told me to keep going... and guess what? I WILL :D  
**

**P.S. Thank you to all my readers who wished me a Happy Birthday (Aug 15th), that was extremely sweet of you :3  
P.P.S. Check out my lovely Kat's, ILAUGHATYOUALL, new fic 'Burn'. It's amazing... plus I'm beta'ing it ;3  
P.P.P.S Check out both Kat & I's newest fic 'The RPG Club'. You'll love it.. and I'm not just saying that cos we wrote it… ;3**

**Enjoy~**

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"So your name is... Iggy?" the scarlet-haired woman spoke, interest filling her eyes.  
"Iggy Harroway?" another girl with blue hair up to her shoulder questioned.

The blonde boy nodded his head at both girls, his eyes veering to the side to where the back of a blonde-haired woman could be seen tending to his father who was sporting a black eye.

Sighing, Erza brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose and squeezed, "Iggy, we are terribly sorry for the way Gray and Natsu treated you. Trust me... they will be punished for their actions." From behind her, Gray flailed his arms and Natsu whined, both their girlfriends immediately shushing them and again tending their wounds.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing attacking a random bystander?!" The blonde fumed, harshly dabbing cotton filled with alcohol on his scratched arm. "It was all this shithead's fault!" Natsu retorted, pointing towards Gray.

"My fault!?" Gray asked incredulously, "You were going to burn the fucking guild down again!" His temper heightened and he yelled out in frustration as his bluenette girlfriend tended to a scratch on his forehead.

"Gray-sama, if you keep moving Juvia will purposefully dowse you in alcohol!" she threatened, before picking up a gauze and applying it to the scratch, "Both Gray-sama and Natsu have over one hundred complaints from people! Think of the guild and the way you are representing it!"

Both looked at each other and then snapped their heads towards their attendees. Natsu stared at Lucy for a few seconds before veering his eyes towards the young guy who was being attended to by Erza and Levy.

"You've been looking at him weird since we sat you both down..." Lucy stated, her chocolate brown eyes looking at her boyfriend in interest and confusion.

"There's... something weird about him..." he muttered, wincing slightly as Lucy patched up the lower part of his right cheek and whispered a sorry. She turned slightly, her left eye catching a glimpse of the blonde boy and inwardly gasping; he was staring right at her, eyes filled with intent... to... to what?

"He smells..." Natsu said, grabbing Lucy's attention, "... he smells like us."

* * *

"Don't worry about it Au- uh, Erza," Iggy stuttered, still mesmerized by his mother's beauty to fully pay attention to what he was saying, "It wasn't their fault... I was in their way."

The young Dragneel was lucky that Erza had not caught his minor "Aunt" slip, in fact she had barely heard his voice. The scarlet-haired woman scrunched her eyebrows as she gazed into the young man's face, "You look familiar," she stated, cocking her head to the side and squinting her eyes, "But I'm positive I've never met you before?"

His attention was renewed as he blinked in surprise at Erza's words, _she figured it already?_ He inwardly sighed as he saw her confused face, only smirking as he spoke, "I tend to have a face that seems familiar to everyone. But no, you don't know me." He received a smile in return from Erza, and switched his gaze to the small bluenette next to her. Levy was squinting her eyes at him, arms folded across her chest and a slightly arched eyebrow.

_She always did know when I lied... _Iggy thought, fidgeting with the hem of his sweater as he played on his best poker face. "Levy McGarden, right?" he questioned, a new idea lighting up in his mind. She blinked before blushing a little, "Yes, that's me..."

"And what's it to you, blondie?"

A tall man came from behind Levy and hooked one arm around her shoulder, he was chewing a piece of scrap metal and staring at Iggy as if he were a mere rodent. In the future his Uncle Gajeel would drop the attitude and just act grumpy all the time, specially with Nashi since she liked to tease Tetsu so much; Gajeel having a soft spot for Iggy, as many in the guild did, since he looked so much like his mother.

He ignored Gajeel's question that was tinted with annoyance and threat, looking back towards his young father and mother. She was sitting on top of him now, her cream-colored thighs crossed and her blonde hair picked up in a ponytail; Natsu was rolling his eyes while Lucy smiled sweetly and nuzzled her nose onto his un-scratched cheek.

Looking back towards the people surrounding him, he hadn't noticed that all were gone and he was left alone sitting on top of a table. Glancing around he found familiar faces, all looking decades younger; some he had seen in pictures, noting that they probably passed in a battle or even left the guild. He murmured to himself as he let his gaze sweep through the guild, "There's Droy and Jet, still near Levy. Max and Warren, gambling and talking shit just like always. Ever, Freed, and... Bixlow? So that's what he looked like... Alzack, Bisca, and Asuka? Tiny she was and still is...The Strauss siblings and Freed... oh yea, Lance is about to pop..."

"You know my children very well, I see."

The fair-haired young man flinched, the once familiar voice coming back to light. Turning his head softly, he found himself glancing down at an elderly man: Makarov Dreyar, the third master. All sorts of emotions coursed through Iggy's veins at the same time as he looked into the eyes of the elder. _He's alive… he's here,_ he thought, biting back tears and locking his jaw into a fake yet curt smile. "Mhm," was all Iggy could muster as he looked lovingly towards his Godfather, the man who died trying to protect what was left of his family.

**_- Flashback -_**

_It was happening again, the attack on Fairy Tail that had become sporadic since his mothers death thirteen years ago. It wasn't just a normal battle for the top guild, no, it was a battle to take what had become ultimately rare: the only celestial mage holding the twelve keys, which unluckily was Igneel Dragneel. _

"_Dad please! Let me help! I can call out Virgo to make underground traps or Taurus to kick people's asses!" Iggy screamed, his father ignoring him and continuing to weld a metal frame into the room using his magic. "Dad, PLEASE! I'm not a little kid, I can fight to-"_

"_I can't lose you," his father said just loud enough for him to hear, "I lost your mother. I won't lose what I have left." There was only a small visible corner left for Iggy to see what was happening on the outside of the room he was currently being trapped in for security; he could see Master Laxus pinning down four masked men and shooting lightning bolts at men trying to run towards his father, his sister was farther out and battling with a girl who had smoke magic, Uncle Gajeel was currently plowing three men to a wall with his iron fist and he could see Aunt Juvia's water rushing through random corners. "You won't lose me!" Iggy pleaded, "I'll be fine! You need my help!"_

"_I need you to STAY!" Natsu growled, before extending one of his arms into the small room and running his calloused fingers through his son's hair, "One day you will understand what it is to be a father."_

_Before his father could seal him off completely and run in towards the battle, a small figure came in between Natsu and the door: the late master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar._

"_He cannot understand what it is to be a father if he isn't watching you at all times," the elderly man spoke gruffly, extending his fist and punching a random intruder who had escaped Laxus's grasp. "Let him into battle-"_

"_NO. Gramps, he's thirteen! He's not fit-"  
"And neither were you at thirteen. Yet you fought and nearly got yourself killed every time. I am his Godfather, and I deserve a right to say that if he is your son, he will fight and win this battle." Without any other words being said, Makarov brought the same enlarged hand towards the half-welded door and ripped it off it's hinges, the once intact door falling in pieces to the ground. _

_Excitement flowed through Iggy's veins as he stepped out into the battlefield that was in view. The faces of his guild members turned to his attention, all flashing smiles as a new form of help came into battle: not just any help, but the guilds best trump card. Natsu looked down at his son, the excitement he held could be seen and smelled from miles away. Looking towards Makarov, he held worry in his eyes, "You shouldn't be in this either Gramps, you aren't exactly as fit as you used to be…"_

"_Nonsense," he spoke, as he patted Iggy's back, "I may be old, but it is a blessing to fight not only alongside my children, grandchildren and godchildren." With that, the elder man walked towards his grandson Laxus, while the two Dragneel's stared at him for what would be the last time._

_Looking away from Gramps and towards his son, Natsu inwardly prayed that his Luce would protect their son, "You ready?" he breathed. Iggy looked up and nodded before bringing his attention back to the battlefield and pulling a single gold key from his pocket, "Open! Gate of The Maiden!"_

**_- End of Flashback -_**

His eyes must've been red by then, a sob threatening to come through as he found himself in front of his Godfather but unable to so as much touch him. _He doesn't know who I am_, he thought, _doesn't even know of my existence… doesn't know that I was the one who held him as he died._

Feeling awkward by the fact that the young man seemed to be having an inward battle with himself, Makarov looked towards his guild, "It is alright to feel pain. I'm sorry my two children attacked you, even if by accident. The most I can do is let you stay here free for a week. Though I have never seen you before, it seems as though you know my family…" Letting his sentence fill in the atmosphere, he looked closer at the boy in front of him. He seemed familiar: his blonde hair, the hazel eyes, the fine nose yet chiseled face, and the fair skin… two faces appeared in his mind, yet pushed them away as he inwardly chuckled, _impossible_.

Hearing his Godfathers request to stay, a small smile played onto Iggy's face, "That.. would be great." Subconsciously, he combed his medium-lengthed hair to the right side, covering his ear and feeling comfort as the habit tamed his nervousness.

**.-.-.-.-.**

"I think he should stay over Natsu's house," a female voice rang through the air, breaking the small conversation the two men were having. Lucy Heartfilia walked towards the master and the young stranger, a grouchy Natsu in tow. Arriving in front of the two, she looked into the young man's face, "Iggy, right? I'm Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia." Bringing her hand out, the young man just stared incredulously, the once happy expression he held turning into one of… sadness?

Iggy stared at her hand, her manicured nails and bracelet-adorned wrist looking feminine and beautiful. He cautiously slipped his hand into hers, and felt a tiny shock. Pulling back immediately, Lucy laughed, "Guess this is a shocking hello, huh?" She rolled her eyes as Iggy left his hand in the air, eyes widened at the first touch he had shared with his mother… his beautiful and loving mother. "Well," she continued, "I only think it's fair if Natsu gives up a little of his room to you, since he did almost kill you."

"I did not! He was in the way! YOU! You were in the way!" Natsu bellowed, fire spewing from his mouth as he stomped around acting like a ten year old. _Wow, _Iggy stared in amazement at his father, _dad wasn't ever like this_. It was true, the Natsu Dragneel Iggy knew was nothing in comparison; his father spent days drinking on his own or with Uncle Gray, he barely picked fights and spent most of the time teaching Nashi and threatening Iggy to start training daily.

The smile on his face caught on, and Lucy's giddy self was redeemed, "I'm glad you can see through his thick head… it takes a lot."

"That's true, flame brain over here can't even eat dinner without screaming at it first!"  
"Gray-sama, be nice!"

A smirking Gray came into view with Juvia hugging his arm, both intrigued in the conversation Lucy, Natsu, and Iggy were having. Looking around momentarily, Iggy hadn't noticed his Godfathers disappearance, but brushed it off as he brought his attention back to how Gray and Natsu were trying to argue again.

"You're just trying to act cool in front of this kid!" Natsu fumed, his forehead smacked onto Gray's as both held grimaces. Juvia brought a hand to her temple and sighed, "Juvia is sorry for the way these two act. Lucy and Juvia can't do much to them at this point… Although, that was a great idea Lucy!"

Both girls smiled at each other and began speaking about how funny it would be to have Natsu and Iggy in the same household together. _The irony_, Iggy thought sadly, noticing how quickly the girls had accepted him into the guild even if they didn't know who he was. _They have nothing to fear,_ he thought, _these were the years of peace_.

"Iggy," another female voice rang, and all heads turned to it. Erza Scarlett walked with purpose towards the blonde boy, interest yet again sparkling in her eyes and a friendly smile placed on her face. "by any chance, are you a mage?" _Uh oh… just say what Horologium told you. _

The sudden question had apparently peaked the interest of the members who were around him. His mother looked at him, interest sparking in her as well, while Natsu glanced his way while still holding a fist of Gray's hair. "Well, uh… I'm a fortune-teller."

"Like me?!" another voice reverberated in the guild, as a drunken brunette sitting by the bar waved her hand, "Welcome to the club, cutie!" _Cutie… Cana?_ Iggy thought, a sly smile gracing his lips as he craned his neck to find her figure. 'Cutie' was the nickname given to him by the one and only Cana, which her daughter Mila would forever tease him with.

"Do you have some fortune to tell us?!" Juvia came closer to his face, startling the blonde haired guy, "Like perhaps when Gray-sama will declare his love and have Juvia's children?!"  
"J-JUVIA! STOP THAT!" Gray stuttered, shoving Natsu away and coming next to Juvia with a blush tinting his face.

Lucy laughed, while Erza chuckled lightly, "Cana isn't really the best at telling fortunes… since she's under the influence most of the time," Erza added.  
"AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT~!" Cana screamed in the background, as she brought a mug filled with beer to her lips.

_This is it, _"Well I do have a fortune to tell…" _Word it correctly, Iggy…  
_"Is it about babies?!" Juvia questioned, sparkles filling her eyes.  
"No…"  
"About a new armor, or cake?" Erza asked, rubbing my stomach at the thought of sweets.  
"Not really…"  
"Will I find a new golden key?-"  
"OR IGNEEL?!" both Lucy and Natsu questioned, their faces coming closer to Iggy.  
"I…"

He couldn't speak, even breathe. Did he really want to tell them? He knew that these years would be filled with peace… but after he was born was when it all went downhill. _Why the hell did Horologium bring me nineteen years back!?_

"Spit it out already! And please.. no babies…" Gray groaned, looking down at Juvia's happy state and dreading what he'd be in for tonight.

They looked so happy, all of them. And his mother… she was at touching distance. He could feel her chocolate eyes gazing at his face, hear the soft _thump, thump_ of her heart, smell the cinnamon and apple that came from her skin.

"Well~?" she sang, her hands on her thighs as she leaned closer to him.  
He gulped, "You're going to die."

**In the Future**

"_Salamander! Why are you calling so late? You ain't having an episode again, are you?_"  
"No, asshole. Sorry I'm calling so late, I know Levy likes to sleep early.."  
"_Yea… but today we make the exception, since it's Lucy's birthday. Man, you should've come._"  
"I would've… but it's been harder since Igneel turned sixteen. Now all he wants to know is about his mother and I can't fucking do it. I can't look at my son and say that it's my fault."  
"_It wasn't._"  
"IT WA- fuck it. Where's my son? Rosie told me he was with Tetsu."  
"_Tetsu? I don't fucking know. The little shit told me he was going out with Hope._"  
"Hope?! Like… Erza and Jellal's Hope?!"  
"_Who the fuck else, dumbass?!_"  
"THEN WHERE THE HELL IS MY SON?"  
"_HOW THE FUCK DO I KNOW?!_"  
"I'll go check the guild… Ugh, he's fucking been dissapearing now. His sister is nineteen and never pulled these stunts."  
"_He's like his mother._"  
"Yea."

Gajeel heard the line go dead and sighed out loud as he placed his phone down on the kitchen counter. He heard his wife's small footsteps walking his way, followed by another set of footsteps that belonged to his young daughter.

"Was that Natsu?" Levy questioned, grabbing to his right arm and caressing it softly with her thumb. He nodded, his eyes veering towards his thirteen year old daughter who had her arms crossed and was sporting a pout. "What's up with you, squirt?"

Nadia stared at her father and then to her mother, letting out a 'hmph!' and looking the other way. Rolling her eyes, Levy answered, "Your daughter wanted to get another piercing today, but I told her no since today is a day to mourn and remember."

"It's not like I remember her! I didn't even exist back then!" Nadia whined, stomping her petite foot and passing a hand through her messy black hair. "Plus, Tetsu got to go out! How the hell is that fair?!"

"Tetsu is sixteen, and he went to Hope's house to mourn," Gajeel answered, giving her 'the look' that meant to 'calm the fuck down'. "She's your mothers best friend, and she is your aunt. Respect." Levy nodded at Gajeel's statement, a small smile coming to her face as she walked into the kitchen and pulled out a tiny golden cake from the oven.

Walking with the cake in her hands, Levy settled it carefully unto the dining room table and held out her arm. With an annoyed sigh, her daughter trudged over next to her mother and let her head fall into the nook of her neck. The bluenette kissed her daughter's head softly, while feeling Gajeel's chest behind her, "You would've loved her," she whispered as she looked at the cake, "and she would've loved you just as much."

The small golden cake had a small note written in red icing: "Happy 42nd Birthday, Lucy!"

* * *

**MY FEELSZ.  
I know, like… how can I live with myself, writing this? D:  
Well, you'll like it after a few chapters ;3  
Sorry for such the long wait but… it's all for the good of the story!**

**Review when you can~ c:**

**-Ninaaaa**


	3. Chapter 3

**OKAY GUYZZZ, I know I've taken forever & a day to write this new chapter .-.  
Seriously, bear with me... University life = no life. Just sayin'.  
Anywho… I'm so happy with all the reviews I've gotten in these past two chapters ^-^  
I LOVE YOU ALL. **

**Now then, time to make you cry D;**

**Enjoy~... ?**

* * *

**Note:** _Italics _are snippets of the character's POV past; _different from a flashback_.

The sun was just beginning to shine it's rays onto the streets of Magnolia as a certain Dragon Slayer paced quickly through the streets. "He wasn't at Levy's or at Erza's or at Lisanna's… not even in fucking Gray's house," the middle-aged man spoke to himself, his breath heavy and his hands clammy with worry. "Where did you go?!" he breathed out the sentence in agitation, slamming the side of his fist onto one of the side walls of a large house.

Hearing the crack of what probably was a broken knuckle, he sighed out loud as the pain shot up his arm, '_I deserve this pain..._' he thought to himself as he kept walking up the street and back to his house. Natsu had checked just about everywhere for his son: his friend's houses, the guild, the local library, even the small hut both him and Ame made together in the fields when they were small.

"Ame," the salmon-haired man growled, as he remembered what she had told him… and how much of a lie it was.

**_- Flashback -_**

_A sudden loud knock on the door reverberated around the Fullbuster household, making both Juvia and Ame jump from the couch. Gray walked out of his master bedroom with Arashi, the eldest win, in tow, "Who the heck is making all that noise?!" she yelled in frustration, half of her hair ironed while the other half was still wavy._

"_Ari, darling, it was only one knock," Juvia said patiently, eying Gray as he walked in confusion towards the door; only one person would be doing this on this day… and he hoped he hadn't hurt himself in the process._

_The nineteen year old girl pouted as she rolled her eyes, "Well whoever it is disrupted me doing my hair…"  
"Your hair looks like crap anyways," a familiar voice said, and as Ari turned she was met with her twin (not by choice) brother Kori. He had black hair just like her as well as the same dull gray eyes, the only difference between the two is that what one had boobs and the other didn't. "No one asked for you retard," Ari voiced, flipping her hair onto his face and walking towards an already annoyed Ame. _

_Juvia placed both her hands onto her temples, "Children…"  
"Enough," Gray said coldly, as he reached the door knob and opened the door: a man with pink hair looked back at him, his eyes mixed with both anger and worry._

_Immediately the house went silent, Juvia's eyes grew wide as she jumped out of the couch and paced to the door. Coming between her husband and her friend, she quickly brought her hand out to cup Natsu's worried face. "Are you okay?" Juvia said quickly, her eyes scanning his body and landing on his hands: they were filled with blisters, and hadn't been healed at all. _

"_Gra-" she spoke urgently, and was soon cut off by her husband's urgent tone,  
"Arashi grab the first aid kit, Ame pull out to chairs, Kori-"  
"Already on it dad," the young man spoke, his face once lit up with mischief was now turning pale. Natsu was known for having episodes, but it had been about three years since the last outburst._

_Ame's hands became clammy as she slowly got up from the couch and walked towards the dining room table, pulling out two chairs and pushing all the ornaments in the center off towards the side. 'He found out...' she thought to herself, her poker face playing well as her father walked towards her with one of Natsu's arms thrown over his shoulder. _

"_I'm not here to get healed," Natsu mumbled, his own face pale. "I can't find him."_

_Gray settled him down in the wooden chair and furrowed his eyebrows, his best friend had ultimately burned his hands because of that? "You idiot, you can't find him and so you burned your hands? How is that even possible… you're a fucking fire dragon slayer for fuck's sake!"  
"Looks like he placed his hands under boiling water," Ame spoke solemnly, staring into her boyfriends' father's eyes: they were black like coal, and were staring back at her as if she was a wall._

_Juvia went behind Natsu's chair, and placed her warm hands on his shoulders, "Honestly Natsu, Juvia can't bear to see you like this…" the bluenette looked down and the salmon-headed man and frowned. He used to be so lively - used to fight with her husband, joke around, even fight with Juvia on occasions just to test his fire power; now he was burnt out, his heart once a bright red turning a dull grey._

"_I didn't burn my hands because I couldn't find him asshole," Natsu said, ripping away his eyes from Ame and focusing on Gray, "We all screamed at the table and it was- it was a fucking mess and it's all my fucking fault!" He hit the dinning table hard, one of his knuckles banging into another and making him wince. _

_Kori walked towards the scene with his sister Arashi, who held a large white box in her hands. "If you hit that knuckle again, it'll break," the young man said, eying his blistered hand and inwardly sighing. He sat down in front of Natsu and placed his hands on his lap. _

"_Just like Wendy taught you," his mother reassured him, a soft smile on her face.  
"I know, mom… thanks," he mumbled, closing his eyes and focusing all his magic to his hands. Kori was blessed with the most power out of all Fullbuster children, though Juvia said all her children were amazing, and had Freeze Magic: he could use both water and ice magic, and be able to freeze and unfreeze the liquid and solid with ease. A few years ago, during a mission with his family, his father had a deep laceration on his side and was losing tremendous amounts of blood. Both sisters and his mother were frantic, since their first aid kit had nothing to help stop the bleeding; it is unknown how the power came, but Kori placed his hands on his father's cut and prayed for him to be healed. As if answered by the Gods, the young man's hand glowed a pale blue and his father's cut began to disappear, leaving not even a scar. _

_Once they returned, Gray begged for Wendy to teach Kori as much as she could about healing - he wasn't a God slayer nor a Dragon slayer, yet he was blessed with magic unseen in all of Magnolia. _

_Grabbing his father's best friends hands, the young Fullbuster began whispering enchantments as his hands grew pale blue. Slowly, the blisters that filled his hands began to go down and the swelling all but disappeared. Natsu looked at his hands then back to Gray's son just as he finished. He was his daughters friend for years, once even hugging Nashi when she would still cry about Lucy being gone. "Ko-"  
_"_Don't worry Mr. Dragneel," Kori smiled, his eyes seemed tired as the healing process took effect on his strength, "Anything for family."_

_Mr. Dragneel raised from the chair he was sitting on and patted the nineteen year-old's jet-black hair. Facing Gray and Juvia, Natsu took exhaled loudly, "Would any of you know where Igneel is by any chance?"_

_Both adults looked at each other, their confusion being read. The salmon-haired man's shoulders sulked, "Nothing?" Juvia's eyes fell upon her youngest daughter, who stood at the corner of the dining room and far away from the rest of the family. "Ame," Juvia began, "did you see your boyfriend today?"_

_The small dark-blunette girl looked up towards her mother and then met Natsu's eyes, "He told me he went off for a mission," she shrugged, playing the 'don't know, don't care' attitude well, "he wanted to blow off some steam from the recent fight you guys had."_

_Natsu stared at the petite girl, her face was expressionless and her eyes were the deepest blue and filled with boring attempts of caring. He sniffed the air as as he walked closer to her, and immediately drew the conclusion: she was lying. _

"_I guess I should've never come by here," Natsu spoke, an angered tone escaping his lips.  
"Woah, Natsu, calm dow-"  
"Your daughters lying, Gray," the older man spoke, his coal eyes filled with despise that Ame was hiding something - something like his own son's life._

_Juvia was the first to come in between both Natsu and Gray before anything would get nasty, "Now, please Natsu… Juvia can't believe that Ame would lie. Maybe he is on a mission!"  
_"_He can't fucking bring his right arm all the way up, nor can his right pinky function. If you've forgotten, he also can't hear very well from his right ear and constantly needs someone to be on his right-hand side for support. He would never go to a mission on his own unless he was trying to commit fucking suicide." _

_The salmon-haired man didn't wait for a response from the shocked Juvia and already annoyed Gray. He was staring at Ame the whole time as he spoke, "Unless you want my son to die, I suggest you tell me-"  
_"_Enough," Gray intervened, his lips quivering as he tried to keep his anger at bay.  
Natsu turned his torso and faced Gray, "She's fucking lying Full-"  
"That's my fucking daughter Dragneel! Don't come into my house and start blaming my daughter when she's fucking innocent!" _

_His mouth lay agape as his best friend scolded him; he was right, who was he to barge in and start interrogating? His anger wasn't lifted, yet he turned completely towards his own friend and walked up close to him, their noses practically touching._

"_You promised," he began and then turned abruptly and walked towards the door, "you fucking promised."_

**_- End of Flashback -_**

The streets and signs seemed like a blur as he kept walking towards his house, hitting the walls next to him as he passed and letting the same pain of his now broken hand give him the pain he deserved for having his family so broken. His father would've hated this; it seems like forever when they last met - an adventure that seemed to happy to fit his current state.

Small drops of water began to hit his face, causing him stopped abruptly. He brought his left hand up and touched his cheek, moist with what was most likely both his tears and the rain. Gritting his teeth, he brought his hand higher up to his forehead and let out a sob; he could smell the burning oak that Nashi was beating up and knew she was in the same predicament. '_What have I done?_' he thought, as his finger got caught on his hair and he pulled, '_I'm the biggest fuck-up.._.'

Trying to blink back the tears as he took a few steps forward, a small light twinkled at the end of a random alley a few blocks from his house. He eyebrows furrowed as he stepped into the darkened alley, the rain echoing through the small space and the air a little tighter in the area. One foot followed the other slowly, the small golden light blinking on and off softly and making Natsu feel nostalgia. Whatever it was that was glowing a few feet away from him was a bright gold, like the color of his wife's hair.

"Luce…" he whispered softly, his vision beginning to blur once again as the rain fell harder. Soon enough he reached the glowing object, finding himself fall to his knees as the object turned out to be a single silver key with the face of a clock: Horogium.

**.~~~.**

**In the Past**

His eyesight was blurry: bright white was all he could see. Blinking a few times, the cloud began to dissipate as a white ceiling formed with a brown fan overhead holding a bulb of bright light. Smelling alcohol and herbs, his nose immediately scrunched up as he brought his left hand up to cover it. '_Hospital_?' he thought to himself, as his eyes scanned the small boxed room holding a few chairs and a long table with different medical supplies.

How in the world he got there, he could summon up: after he practically ruined his own chances of staying 'normal' by telling his mother she would die, he received a nice knock out punch from his own father.

Knowing he was alone in the room, he grabbed his right arm with his left hand and pulled it upward and across his chest. Noticing that he wasn't wearing a sweater, he inwardly cussed… how would he explain this? He's positively sure whoever took it off must be itching to question it. He let his left hand trace the missing skin on his upper right arm, feeling the difference of the new skin and his regular one: after many medical practices, Wendy was able to make up 'skin' using cowhide and other animal skin. The only downside? Half of his right arm was a dull and sick grey, including his pinky and right ear. Wendy was sure enough to inform his family that he'd never properly use his right arm again and would probably have low hearing on his right side - deeming him useless in fights.

Sighing, he let his right arm drop next to him and brought his left hand to his face as worry took hold. How was he going to explain anything?

"I can see you're awake," a familiar voice spoke, nearly making Igneel jump out of his hospital bed, "the worry on your face makes me assume that you are hiding something, and your figuring a way of explaining without having to tell the truth." Igneel's mouth opened, his head following the small body walking it's way next to his bed and sitting on a chair.

Seeing the boy's expression brought another tinge of familiarity into Makarov's mind: unless their was a distant cousin (and there wasn't), there was no other explanation than the one he was thinking of. The young man was still staring at him, perhaps inwardly fighting with some emotion since his eyes had become wide with… hurt?

"If you would've told me you came into Fairy Tail to tell one of my children that they were to die, I would've done you the favor of kicking you out myself," Makarov spoke, a small smirk coming into his face as one of his eyebrows raised, "Perhaps not every young lady in this guild would be backed up, but as for Lucy Heartfilia? She has the strongest team in Fairy Tail at her side… and a very strong husband-to-be willing to kill just about anyone who threatens her well-being."

Iggy's eyes were still wide, for once again he was able to speak to his loving Godfather - even if the latter didn't know of his existence yet. He understood how stupid he had been for saying it so blandly to his mother, but it wasn't necessarily his fault: it wasn't easy seeing your mother after thirteen years and being perfectly fine and dandy. "I-I didn't mean to, hone-"

"I know," Makarov intervened, a soft smile appearing on his lips, "no one in their right mind would come here to purposefully threaten this guild, we are the strongest guild - two times in a row!" If it wasn't for the fact that Igneel was tired and still under some sort of medication, he would've probably face palmed; his Godfather was such an egotistic old man. A small smile came to the fair-haired boys lips and suddenly Makarov could see it… "Your last name isn't Harroway now, is it?" The master might be old, but he wasn't dumb... it was clear to him now, crystal.

Iggy couldn't hide it, his face grew pale as he brought his head down and let his left hand grab a hold of his hair; Makarov's mouth dropped slowly, remembering a certain slayer who did the same exact move. He quickly jumped of the seat and found an open spot in the boy's bed, jumping up to sit on it and stare into the hazel eyes that were beginning to form tears.

'_He'd know what to do,_' Iggy thought, biting his lip hard to not cry, '_Maybe I need this extra help… maybe this won't change the course completely._'

"Her," he croaked, a single tear leaving his eye, "I need to save her."  
"Lucy?" Makarov questioned, his expression turning dim as he felt like he knew these eyes - seen them before in a different face, in a different time.  
The sixteen year-old nodded his head, "My mother." The room stayed quiet for a second as Iggy tried hard to recover from his state and couldn't, while Makarov's eye grew wider as his thoughts became fact.  
"And your father?" he whispered, his own voice growing hoarse as he realized these emotions only meant the future wasn't as bright as he thought would be.  
"He doesn't have much time left," Iggy began, "He's not the same as he is now-"  
"What do you mean?" the master prodded.  
"The Natsu Dragneel you know, doesn't exist in my time."

**.-.-.-.-.**

"You've gotta be kidding me…" the blonde mage was pacing around Wendy's room, both bluenette's Levy and Wendy holding the same expression: complete surprise.

"No, no, no, NO!" Lucy brought her hands up to her head and shook it, tears forming as both happiness and fear filled her head. She looked towards Wendy, and the small fourteen year old brought up her hands in defense, "I-I checked three times already Lucy, my magic can't lie…"  
"And neither can my visions!" Carla said annoyingly, as she folded her paws and looked to the left.

Levy got up from Wendy's bed and walked over to Lucy, "It isn't exactly a bad thing, Lu-chan… It's a blessing! A gift, even!"

"A gift?!" Lucy spat, her arms flailing as she stepped away from Levy and face both girls, "A bracelet, that's a gift. A pair of movie tickets, THAT'S a gift. a shopping date, THAT'S A GIFT! But a B-BABY?!" The blonde bit back tears as she felt her petite best friend come and placed her hands on her face, "It is a gift," Levy whispered, "A beautiful one, at that." Wendy nodded her head in agreement, biting her lip and bringing Carla closer to her as she inwardly happy danced at the fact that another baby was going to be born.

Lucy let out a shaky breath, unconsciously rubbing her stomach, "Wha-... How am I going to tell Natsu?" Levy rolled her eyes, letting out a small laugh, "I'd be more worried about Erza, if you ask me!" All three laughed together, before a small knock was heard from Wendy's door.

The Sky Dragon Slayer raised an eyebrow, "Where any of you expecting someone?" Both girls shook their heads, while Carla added that Happy was currently fishing with Natsu. Scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, the fourteen year-old jumped off her bed with Carla in her hands and walked towards the door, opening it to reveal their tiny master Makarov.

Levy yelped in surprise and Lucy covered her stomach, as if there was already a huge bulge being seen. A questionable face coming to Makarov's face only for a second, before he smiled widely and thanked a nervous Wendy for opening the door.

"He's awake," he began, "Iggy. He asked to speak to you, to say sorry. I believe he deserves a chance." Lucy's face lit up quickly, half of it being because the master hadn't noticed her pregnancy, and walked towards the man standing by the door, "Thank goodness! I could've sworn Natsu and Gray killed him…"

The blonde lowered her head into her right hand and shook it, disappointment taking over, "It's not like I cared so much, I mean… we all will die at some point. Whether it be like my father from sickness or like our family and friends who've died in battle. That's why life is so precious to me," she shrugged, bringing her head back up and meeting eyes with her master's who had become soft, "That's why I… I live life to the fullest."

"And," Levy said walking up to her best friend from behind and throwing her arms around her neck, "Team Shadow Gear has your back!" Wendy laughed as well, walking towards an already smiling Lucy, "I've got your back too, and Erza and Gray and.. well, Natsu always will be there too!" The girls laughed together as Makarov watched in a mixture of happiness and sadness - the future, it would be long but it would come, was already taking a toll on his children.

"Those were beautiful words," the old man spoke, clearing his throat and blinking a few times to keep his composure, "Lucy I hope you make time to see Mr. Harroway, since-"  
"I'm already on my way!" the blonde spoke, going for her purse on Wendy's bed and swinging it over her shoulder.

The celestial mage was already bouncing towards the door as Makarov held out a hand to stop her, "By the way, congratulations! I can't wait to have yet another grandchild!" Lucy's mouth opened wide as her face went completely pale, "W-Wh-"

The door closed on her face before she could say another word, leaving Makarov and the two young ladies in the room alone. After hearing what sounded like angry stomping towards the end of the hallway, Levy was first to break the silence, "M-master, how did you figure it out? She isn't even showing…"

Makarov shrugged and pointed to his head, "A father always knows about his children." Wendy gazed in awe at her master, and how matu-  
"Plus I heard her scream it out loud while I walked over here!" He smiled sheepishly, before cracking up and saying he needed a beer.

Two wide-eyed people stared at the door close behind their master, and then faced each other. Perhaps Wendy was wrong - that old man had a kid heart inside him, forever.

**.~~~.**

**In the Future**

Before Lucy's death, the couple had decided that perhaps Natsu should learn how to at least bring out spirits of the silver keys just in case an accident would happen in battle. It took him several months, but with the great magical power the dragon slayer possessed, he was finally able to master opening all silver keys in his wife's possession; and co-signing the contract his own lovely wife signed when he opened all of them as well.

The rain was pouring even harder than it had a few minutes ago, and Natsu was still on his knees soaked to the bone sporting wide eyes as he looked down at the small silver key. He picked it up with with left hand and let it lay in his palm, the key was warm in contrast to the cold floor. Shakily, he took grabbed the key with his right hand and turned on his knee to face towards the opening of the alley, "G-gate of the C-clock!" He hadn't noticed how cold he had become, or wouldn't notice either as he found himself sitting inside the spirits stomach, where a pendulum should be.

"Master Natsu, it is a pleasure to see you," Natsu heard the spirit say from within, and quickly placed his instantaneously dry hand on the glass as he looked out onto the wet pavement; the rain had stopped and he hadn't even noticed. "I'm dry?" he questioned, taking his hand away from the glass and towards his face. "Yes, time is different in your world. You didn't even notice that I took you out from the rain and placed you in here with new clothes."

Raising an eyebrow, he couldn't help but smirk, "Lucy always told me to never underestimate yo-... Wait. How did I found you here?!" Natsu began to stir inside Horogium, heat escaping his body as he began to breathe harshly, "What happened to my son, spirit?!" he spat, not allowing the clock to answer the question, "Where the fuck is he?! Did someone take him? Did he run away?!"

The clocks face contorted as his body began to get hot, and without notice the spirit wiggled his body up and down, until he heard his master calm down. "Please do not try to catch me on fire. I shall explain everything to you once I walk you home."  
"I can fucking walk on my own!"  
"I rather carry you, master. Plus, I'm going to teleport to your house so that we can get to your daughter quickly."  
"My daughter?"

**.-.-.-.-.**

Nashi had just about killed the damn oak tree; it now looked more like a pile of ashes and leaves, mixed with some twigs and what looked like a dead cricket. She was heaving, her eyes stinging as more tears formed and she once again screamed in frustration as she punched the ashes.

Caleb Marx sat in a chair a few feet away from her and was guarding the entrance to their house, or more like guarding the house from catching fire. He wasn't really paying attention to her tantrum - in fact he did what he knew best to do, stay out of it and think about the past.

_When Caleb was just sixteen, he ventured into the town of Magnolia as he tried to escape the small kingdom of Sin. Placed in jail in his hometown of Nix for showing 'kindness' at the age of fourteen, the young boy escaped and found himself running from the law until he crossed the border. Every kingdom he had been to since could not keep him hold: no guild interested him, and he never spoke to people for fear of being thrown in jail for kindness, smiling, or even blushing. _

_For two years, he walked and walked seeing new faces and saying goodbye to them before he had a chance to even remember them. By the time he had reached Fiore, he was tired of running - tired of being alive. As he walked towards the highest mountain in Fiore he could find, he whispered a soft goodbye and let his deepest secrets of finding love and note hate spill through his lips: how he wanted to find a beautiful woman, how he wanted to love her forever, how he wanted to have children and smile and laugh and be free of Sin's grasp. Before he could take his final step and fall to his death, the hair was knocked out of him as he found himself pushed away from the cliff and falling onto the ground with a person on top of him. _

_His bi-colored eyes opened abruptly and he found himself staring at a girl his age with black irises and pink hair. Her pink eyebrow was arched in an annoying manner, "You know suicide isn't the answer, right? I mean, my dad freaking tries to commit it almost everyday but I don't let him because honestly he has two kids and shouldn't be so-"_

_He stared at her incredulously as she kept on blabbing about her father's suicidal thoughts; she hadn't even thought of getting up and off of him! What if the officials caught them doing this?! Without touching her, he lifted his hands and brought her up and off of him using his telekinetic skills. He thought she'd flinch - but the damn woman was still talking!_

"_-and my brother is like, super annoying! Geez, he's twelve years old and all he does is read and talk to his spirits but I think Ame likes him… Oh! I'm Nashi by the way, I'm fifteen but I turn sixteen next month and… wha-? Holy fuck how'd I get off of you?! OH MY GOSH do you use magic?!" She got on all fours and crawled towards the boy that seemed to be her age, he was staring at her weirdly but she didn't care since she was more into his magic capabilities._

_Caleb spoke back monotonously, "You talk a lot."  
"Yea I've been told that, but like whatever I just like talking and fighting! Which by the way… you have the coolest magic yet! You have to stop by the guild! Oh my gosh wait… are you in a guild?! What's your name?!"  
"C-caleb…" he said inching back as the girl, Nashi, crawled closer to him, their noses practically touching, "Caleb Marx."_

"And the rest is history," the twenty year old mused, stretching his arms and letting his own fingers run through his short black hair.

"You… You're… so cheesy," Nashi breathed, sweat dripping from her forehead as she looked around and plopped onto the floor, "If you… are still… thinking about… first time we met." Caleb only smiled as he leaned over and placed his forearms on his thighs, making his hands dangled in the open space, and jerked up his right hand as he lifted Nashi and brought her down close enough to be a few inches away from him.

"H-hey!" she said, flailing only a little before calmly subjecting to being telekinetically manhandled to sit in front of Caleb. "You promised not to use me as a damn toy!" she pouted, folding her arms and looking to the side as smoke starting seeping out from her small nostrils. "I said I promised not to do it unless you were in danger," the telekinetic mage said with a smile, "and you sitting away from me? Suuuuper dangerous!" he was chuckling now as he mocked the pinkette's usual happy-go-lucky self, shaking his dangling hands and widening his eyes on purpose.

"Hah, Hah." The nineteen year-old rolled her eyes as her shoulders sagged, "I feel a little better…" she exhaled, looking up at him with a smile.  
"I know what could make you feel even better though."

The girl blushed. He was doing it again… wanting to take their friendship away from being a friendship. "You obviously don't know how to take things slow," she muttered, her blush growing deeper as she turned her face away from him. Caleb only smirked as he brought his hand away from his thighs and let his fingers touch her chin, making her head turn slowly to face him. Her bangs were in her eyes again yet for some reason her vision only became clearer when she was this close to him; her senses heightened, the air tasting sweeter.

"_Mommy, when will I know I'm in love?"  
"Love? Aren't you too young to be thinking of that?" her mother chuckled, hazel eyes staring at her warmly as Nashi lay on the big belly where her brother was in.  
"Well.. you and daddy are in love, and I wanna know how!"  
"Well.. love makes you see better."  
"See better? I have twenty hundred vision!"  
"You mean twenty-twenty…" her mother said rolling her eyes as she hoped Iggy would be a bit brighter, "And it's what you don't see that becomes clear."  
"Don't see? Like, it's divindsible?"  
"Invisible, Nashi! And yes… you see what you've been missing, and then everything turns brighter."_

She saw the way the tips of his jet black hair seem to glow under the stars, the way his eyelashes curved upwards giving view to his beautiful eyes that only knew sadness until he joined her guild, the way his lips so easily turned upwards into a smile and his cheeks reddened whenever he saw her. In fact, she saw a glowing aura around him, like he was the only brightness she needed in the dark, the only light giving her faith. '_Invisible… I see it mom,_' she thought, as she let his hand bring her face upwards and begin to see the space between them slowly disappear as his lips-

A cloud of white smoke came to view as a loud 'poof!' was heard and Horogium and Natsu appeared in their backyard.

""N-Nashi?!" he said," Horogium said loudly, making the said girl jumped off from the floor and at the same time have her head hit Caleb's chin.  
"OW! WHAT THE- DAD?!"  
"Mr. Dragneel?!" Caleb said at the same time, getting up from the chair as well and wincing as he touched his now red chin.

The older man kicked the spirits glass door open and crawled out of it, jumping quickly to his feet and having his eyebrow raise up at the scene… did he just… "Were you about to kiss my daughter?" he looked at Caleb, but before he could answer he brought his hand up and looked at Nashi, "Nevermind that now…"  
"Well that was easy…" the twenty year-old sighed,  
"I said now, I'll beat your ass later for kissing my dau-"  
"DAD!"  
"WHAT?! HE ALMOST KISSED YOU!" Natsu said, flailing his arms from let to right as he tried to depict what he had seen.  
"N-No! We were playing!"  
"Playing?!" both Natsu and Caleb said in unison.

The pinkette stomped the ground and began letting smoke come out of her nostrils once again, "J-just, why did you come in Horogium? Where the heck is Iggy?!" Natsu's composure changed, since he had momentarily forgotten why he was there as was sending daggers towards Caleb, and his face became filled with worry, "He left…"

The young friends looked at each other and back at Natsu, with Caleb speaking first, "Left?"

Natsu grimly brought his head down as a sign of saying 'yes' and spoke loud enough for only them to hear, "He left for the past… and, and there's no…" his shoulders began to shake and quickly brought his hand up to his face, his palm covering his eye.

Nashi ran towards him, her own hands shaking in the processes, "H-He left? B-But he can come back right? Of...Of course he c-can, it's Iggy! H-He can!" She tried to cheer both her as well as her father's feelings, looking down at his right hand and biting back a sob at how bad it looked: it was purple, blood slipping through a gash on his knuckles.

"No… he can't return without someone bringing him back to the present."  
Nashi's once shaking body turned still, her dark eyes filling with tears.

Caleb gritted his teeth, before taking a swift step closer to them, "Wait! Isn't there another celestial mage?! Yuki, was it? You told me about her once!"  
Nahsi looked towards him, her tears falling from her face towards the ground, "Yukino-"  
"Yes! Yukino! We can go find her!" Caleb said, a reassuring smile coming to his face.  
"Is dead."

* * *

**OKAY. I KNOW. SO LONG. SO TERRIBLE. I'M TERRIBLE. I KNOW.  
But I also know you guys luuurved it ;3  
Don't forget to click dat button & review silly-willy's~!  
BTW, "Sin" is some kingdom in Earthland o.o IT SAYS SO ON WIKIPEDIA SO WHATEVS. "Nix" I made up xD  
Oh.. also, add me on le tumblrrrrr: letterspluslovenotes **

**P.S: I'M SOOO DIGGING NASHI & CALEB. Should I do some story on them… ;o ? LMK.**

**-Nina**


	4. Chapter 4

**OH HAI GUYZZZ :3  
I'm such a happy camper, since I'm a Phi Mu girl now~! (It's a sorority kiddo's, DO IT.)  
I see a lot of you guys enjoyed Nashi & Caleb… I dig 'em too c;  
****Like I said with my other story, ILC, if anyone is willing make some art for my liddo stories, I'd love you to the moon & back :'D**

**Enjoy~!**

* * *

**Note:** _Italics _are snippets of the character's past; _different from the flashback_.

"Dead?" Caleb repeated, his body going still as he heard the pinkette sob, "How? You spoke about her just the other day about how she was off on a miss-"  
"And she hasn't returned! It's been three weeks!" Nashi yelled, turning and facing her crush with her eyes filled with tears, "Three weeks and no message!"

Natsu stared at his daughter, the pain in his heart he felt for his son growing even more as he saw his daughter crumble before him. "Besides my family, Yukino was the only one left that resembled my mom in some way," she continued, "A-And now, everything's fucking coming down!" Without warning, Nashi bolted towards the backyard door and punched it, the glass shattering and spilling through the grassy floor.

Both men heard her run through the house towards her room, a loud slam of a door being heard even from outside. Looking at each other for a split second, Natsu bowed his head and turned to start heading inside only to have a warm hand touch his bicep and stop him from moving. The middle-aged man stared at Caleb, an eyebrow raising in irritation, "We aren't sure Yukino is dead, are we?" the young man asked, his eyes that were once looking towards the clouds now staring into onyx ones.

There was silence for a seconds, just the breaths of each man being heard. Natsu searched his memories, and gasped, his eyes widening. "H-He's changing, he's changing the past!" Caleb stared at the man incredulously, he just went from crying, to being silent, to now having a smile spread across his face, "What?" the dark haired guy asked.

"I-I… I remember punching a blonde guy, because he said Lucy was going to die…" He blinked, and then brought his hand towards his face, "Really Iggy? You tell your mother she's gonna die.. like that?" Caleb let his mouth drop, and mumbled how crazy the Dragneel family is becoming.

The older man stared at his daughters friend, "Iggy… he's in the past," he spoke, his eyes sparkling with hope, "He's in the past, and although my past self doesn't know who he is, I do! In fact, with these new memories I can be seeing exactly what he's doing!" His smile widened at this revelation, and soon Caleb couldn't help but give out a small smile too, '_Wait until Nashi here's this..._'

"We should go tell Nashi," Caleb said, pointing his chin towards the door entrance. Scratching the back of his head, Natsu pouted, "Well damn, I fucking KO'ed my own son…" but followed the young man into his own house. Going through the hallways, Natsu began looking at the pictures hanging through the halls that he never touched since the day Lucy had died. Even as he through the biggest tantrum of his life, nearly ruining the house they had bought together for their family, he only chipped one side of a picture frame. He looked at it now, passing it slowly as he walked towards the end of the hallway towards his daughter's room: it was the picture of his wedding day with Lucy, the best day of his life.

_Nervous could not even begin to define how Natsu was feeling. In fact, he was sure he passed nervous two months ago after just popping the question; now he just felt crazy. The ceremony had already started, he had walked down the velvety red carpet and was now standing in front of his groomsmen: Gray, Gajeel, Jellal, and Romeo. In front of him were the lovely ladies, Levy, Juvia, Erza, and Wendy, all just finishing making the same diagonal line to match that of the groomsmen. _

_He tried to breathe, yet found it hard. His white tie felt like it was choking him, the black tux and grey vest tightening his diaphragm and making it hard to move. Everyone was smiling, and they all raised as a soothing song began to play, cuing that the bride was about to enter. Natsu's heart was beating tenfold, his hand's clammy as he saw a small old man walk towards the center of the end of the hallway, and the silhouette of a white gown just beginning to be shown. _

_That is when his heart stopped beating, his eyes stopped seeing, and his old life became nothing. There, at the end of the hall, in a white mermaid wedding dress with frills decorating the sides and a white-laced veil covering her face, was Lucy Heartfilia; a small bump could be seen in her dress, were his child was waiting to be brought out into the world. His heart beat once again, in unison with her walking down the aisle. His lips, once parted, had come together and shaped a wide smile, his eyesight became clear, his hearing was perfect, and his life… was new._

"Nashi?" Caleb called, tapping on the door lightly.  
"_Go. Away!_" she yelled back, her voice sounding muffled.  
Natsu shook his head and rolled his eyes as he looked towards a saddened Caleb, "She's been doing this act since she was five. You see that damn broken door?" he said pointing his thumb backwards towards where the backyard would be, "I've changed it over thirty times."  
"_Stop telling him about my LIIIIIFE!_" Nashi yelled again, before both men noticed the smell of something burning and a small squeal come from inside the room.

Mr. Dragneel barged into the room, just in time to see his daughter patting the comforter frantically until only smoke could be seen escaping the sheets. "Aw for fuck's sake Nashi! AGAIN? How many damn comforters do I gotta buy?!" her father fumed, flailing his arms. Nashi only pouted, folding her arms and looking away from both her dad and Caleb. Her eyes were puffy, her nose a deep pink from crying.

Calming down, Natsu's angered face softened, "I have good news," he said, walking towards his daughter and placing his calloused hands on her shoulders, "your brother's alive."  
"How do you know?" the pinkette questioned, looking up to her father.

Looking down at Nashi, her father could only hold back a sob that was threatening to come out. It had been a while since they were this close to each other, in fact Natsu couldn't remember the last time they were inches apart unless it was necessary in battle. '_This needs to change,_' he thought as he opened his mouth, "I can see him in my memories. Vaguely… but he's their alright."  
The pinkette looked at her father questionably, "See him?"  
"Apparently your brother isn't good at hiding himself in the past. You father already just knocked out your brother cold…" Caleb intervened, stepping closer into her room and now resting his back on a wall. "Dad! What the hell?!" Nashi yelled, stepping back and making Natsu momentarily want to kill Caleb.

"He fucking told your mom to her face she was going to die! Plus, I didn't make good decision back th-"  
"And who says you do now?" his daughter intervened, "All you do… is… is mope around! You burn our food, you always yell, you… you're never there!"  
"What the hell do you mean?!" Natsu stepped forward, towering over his daughter as she fidgeted in her spot, "Who's been feeding you? Been loving you? Been there when you cry at night? Who the hell beats the fucking shit out of people who have hurt you? ME! ALL. ME. But you know what Nashi? You are NINETEEN. You do NOT know what life is!"  
"I DO!" she yelled, already beginning to cry.  
"NO. YOU DON'T! I held your mother as she died in my arms, I had to fucking take care of two kids, one practically a newborn all by myself! Yea, I had help sometimes but most of the times? It was only us three. I've given you my all… and your mothers!"

_There was commotion going on in the stands, cries from one side of the stadium was heard more than others. He knew something had gone wrong; he knew it the moment the thirteenth gate opened and closed in seconds. Minerva laughed maniacally on the other side of the arena, walking back to her team who were the only ones with smiles crossing their faces. He screamed her name the moment he fixed his vision on a pale hand on the floor, blood staining the fingertips. _

_He didn't think twice as he jumped over their designated seating area and fell about fourteen feet into the arena, using his flames to bounce on the floor lightly. Beginning to sprint over to his wife, he could hear other feet start hitting the ground and following him. The salmon-haired man crawled the rest of the way towards his wife already sobbing: her heartbeat was slowly starting to stop. Reaching her finally, under the clouds of dust, onyx eyes met hazel ones. _

"_Luce… baby… are you okay?" even as he choked out the words, he found himself hyperventilating. Minerva had clawed at Lucy's chest, pieces of her skin lying around her as blood kept pouring out of her chest. "N-N…" her eyes were watery, darting everywhere as she tried to speak, only gargled noises coming out. "Shh, Shh," he spoke, "W-Wendy's on her way, you'll be better it's okay.. right, be happy.. please, please it's okay…" he began to cry now, bringing his arms under her body and pulling her towards him. His tears fell on her face, and he could faintly hear Wendy's voice telling Lucy to hold on._

Nashi watched as her father started trembling, bringing his hand to his face and squeezing his eye as he tried not to breakdown from the memory. "I.. am always giving you everything," he spoke low, reaching out his hand to place it on Nashi's shoulder… to hold her like he did when she was young, to show her he loved her. Stepping away before he could reach her, she walked towards Caleb, "I'm sorry, dad…"

Looking at the scene in front of him, Caleb felt the uncomfortable situation hit him in the face. He had just been the audience of a family argument… and now his girl was staring at him and pleading for help. "A-Are you sure Yukino's dead?"  
"... Caleb she hasn't come back in three weeks," Nashi said, sniffling as she tried to wipe the tears effortlessly with her hands.  
"She could be alive, no record of her dead yet," Natsu said, his back still facing the younger adults. "She's not a part of Fairy Tail, but has always kept close contact with me. The last time we spoke, she ventured off to another Kingdom in search for a jewel,"  
"Which jewel?" Nashi and Caleb asked in unison.

"They call it the Heart of Nyx," Natsu began and Caleb's vision began to blur, "I'm not sure exactly where it resided before but a few thugs had taken it and brought it to a Kingdom where everything good is actually bad…" the middle-aged man turned and faced his daughter and Caleb, his eyes filled with more worry as he gazed into the eyes of the dark haired boy.  
"Good is bad?" Nashi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Caleb parted his lips, "Sin."

**..~~~..**

**In the Past**

The long white door with the golden letters "2B" stood in front of her, beckoning for her to open it. She stood there, staring at it and listening to absolutely nothing - peace and quiet. She had received two very odd birthday gifts in a matter of a handful of hours: a mysterious sixteen year-old telling her she would die, and Wendy letting her know she was currently carrying a child. She let one of her hands come up and touch her flat stomach, "It won't stay like this for long," she mused looking down at it, unconsciously rubbing it up and down.

She breathed in deeply, finding herself staring warily at the door again. It really hadn't bothered her - the death 'threat' as Natsu called it - but now? With a child? It became a bit more realistic that it wasn't the kind of prophecy she had in mind of encountering. She glanced to her left and then her right, gripping her purse with the other hand tightly as the silence became more real. Stepping forward, she knocked once before hearing a muffled, '_Come in_.'

.-.-.-.-.

The door opened slowly, and suddenly it was hard to breathe. This would be the first time in his life that they would share some time alone - away from his father, from his friends, from any sound other than his mother's sweet voice. A blonde headed girl came peeking into the room, and Iggy couldn't help but smile, "I'm right here," he said, his voice echoing across the empty white room.

Lucy's head snapped to the source of the noise, and a blush crept her face as she smiled, "I guess I should've looked at the bed…" she said as she stepped inside the room and close the white door behind her, "but honestly, I was hoping you were asleep." The blonde woman blushed lightly and she took small steps towards a chair right next to Igneel's bed.

Iggy couldn't help but stare at her as his mouth run dry and heart began beating faster; just the sight of her was enough to make him word vomit… what would her being alone with him in a room make him do? He chuckled lightly, "I tried to go back to sleep but, I keep having nightmares of Da- _that_ guy punching me," the minor slip up apparently went unnoticed and he continued once he saw his mother giggling softly, "So now I'm just enjoying the nice scenery of white walls, white floors, and white sheets."

He heard her laugh louder then, bringing her finger to her eye to wipe away a small tear, "I haven't… laughed like this… in a while!" Iggy kept looking at her, a wide smile now covering his usual solemn face. When Lucy looked back up at him, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of familiarity, but quickly forgot about as she blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

The room, once filled with soft giggles, died down and silence took it's hold. _Nashi, _Iggy thought as his smile grew even wider so that his teeth were showing. "I think you're more happy than Levy, and I barely know you," his mother mused, only to then widen her eyes, "Wait! You're a fortune teller, right? Tell me… will Nat-"  
"He will be the happiest man on Earthland," Igneel interjected and nodded towards her in understanding, "And the little girl will be a bright one… and a bit annoying if you ask me," he muttered the last words.

"A little girl?" she repeated, apparently only having selective hearing at the moment, "and… a b-bright one?!" her hands were now interlinked in front of her, her eyes going up towards the ceiling as she smiled brightly, "Oh my gosh! That means she won't be coming out moronic!" Igneel lost it at that second - poor mother of his - and began laughing outloud, bringing his arms to his stomach as he tried to breathe.

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow, "You are just like Natsu," she tsked, "can't take anything seriously!" As she pouted she let her eyes take in the sandy-haired boy, ultimately finding herself staring at the odd color of his arm. He had stopped laughing now, and was busy rubbing his eyes with his left hand as his other stayed limp on the bed. "Can I ask you a question?" Lucy asked, her curiosity taking over.

"Sure," he said, looking back at her and smiling softly, "What'cha need?"  
"What happened to your right arm?"

Again silence filled the room and Iggy subconsciously moved his right arm under the blanket. "It.. uh," he bit his lip and turned his head all the way to the left and closed his eyes, as he breathed in and brought his right hand up to uncover his ear, "It goes all the way up to here."

_- Flashback -_

_The bluenette looked at her finished product, and sighed. She could do only so much, and yet it seemed still like it wasn't enough. She extended her right hand and brushed the blonde hair away from Igneel's face and smiled softly, he was like her own little brother. Letting her eyes have one last look through the new applied skin, she sighed once again and walked towards the door. _

_Beyond the door was a mess: Gray was currently rocking a very traumatized Ame while Juvia, Levy, and Erza comforted a distraught Natsu, Mirajane had taken hold of a confused Nashi and was whispering to her softly to keep her hands from bursting into flames. All heads snapped towards the door as the youngest of the older generation stepped forward. Natsu stood up from his chair and walked towards Wendy, his eyes red from crying and body shaking. NAshi followed him too, grabbing her fathers arm and sniffling as she asked jumbled questions._

_Wendy brought her hands up in defense, and slowly a small crowd came around her, with tight mouths and worried expressions. She pointed towards Nashi, noticing smoke was coming out of her nose, "Breathe." Looking out towards her family, she gave a sad smile, "He's alive," she nodded, and immediately everyone cheered. Natsu's faced lit up as fresh tears came to his eyes. He reached out and grabbed Wendy, carrying her into a bear hug and kissing her forehead, "Thank you, Wendy," he whispered, "Thank you."_

"_Natsu-san!" Wendy screeched and patted for him to let her down. She was blushing deeply as she tried to reposition herself and fix her now messy ponytail. "I-I didn't finish." The cheers quieted down and Gray walked closer to both Wendy and Natsu, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder, "What is left to say?"_

_Looking down to the side, Wendy let out a sigh before letting her blue eyes meet onyx ones, "He needed a skin transplant," she heard gasps go through the room and what sounded like a girl's sob, "I couldn't use his own so I had to make up some using some darker magic…" She saw Natsu's eye twitch, while Gray's mouth stayed in a tight line, "That's fine. It's superficial. It can work," he turned his head towards his friend and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly._

_Wendy's expression grew sad, "No, it's not."  
_"_What do you mean it's not?!" Nashi whined, her nose now a puffy red.  
"He will never be able to use his right arm normally, even through extensive therapy. He also had half his ear cut off, deeming him close to deaf on that side. He… he will never be able to go on a mission alone; without assistance it would be a suicide mission."_

_Gray felt his friend go limp and immediately placed Natsu's arm over his head, "Easy, Dragneel," he heard his own daughter cough out a sob and looked at his wife, sighing inwardly as he saw she was already on her way over to her. Natsu was speechless, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly ajar as he took in the information given to him. Nashi grabbed onto to both Mirajane and Levy, who were already hugging her and kissing her head. _

"_Thank you Wendy, without you… He's… He's grateful," Gray tried, grabbing a better hold of his friend. Wendy only nodded as her lip quivered, "Don't worry," she told Natsu, "I will spend the rest of my life helping Iggy. I promise you."_

_Natsu barely nodded, as he found himself having trouble breathing. His son's marvelous talent., now wasted. He noticed he was moving towards the seated area of the hospital waiting room, his best friend taking him there. He moved his head to look at Gray the moment he sat; the dark-haired man looked sad, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make sense of it all. _

_Looking up to Natsu, Gray let the words fall out of his mouth, "I've had your back since Lucy's death, even before. I-I can't believe this happened, but… I promise, you are not alone. I never thought of myself as just having three kids. Natsu your children are like mine. I promise… I," he caught a sob before it would be let out, noticing his friend already having tears run down his face, "Igneel will always be under my watch, too. Nothing like this will ever happen again. Nothing."_

_- End Flashback - _

"Oh," Lucy said, a sad expression coming onto her face. "I'm so sorry…"  
Igneel shrugged, "I'm used to it now. I can't really hear that well, or move my arm much," he said looking down at his arm and breathing in deeply as he closed his right fist slowly, "but with therapy, it's gone so much better. I owe everything to W-Wanda."  
"Wanda?" Lucy questioned, her head cocking to the side.  
"Yea," Iggy said as he smiled weakly, "Wanda."  
"Well, Wanda sounds like a wonderful woman!" his mother smiled, and reached over to place her warm hand on his left one, "You are the strongest sixteen year old I've seen, yet. It must be hard, but you make it sound so easy."

Iggy stared at her warm hand on his and felt himself blush, _So this is what she feels like?_ "Warm," he muttered, looking back up to his mother. Lucy took her hand away from his and held it close to her, rolling her eyes as she chuckled lightly, "Sorry! Every since Natsu marked me and all that, I now go have a higher temperature. Honestly, the other day Levy squealed when I bumped into accidentally and told me I almost melted her! She's a bit over dramatic though…"

"M-Marked?!" Iggy squeaked, his eyebrows raising up in surprise. Lucy only shrugged, "That's what happens when you fall in love with a dragon slayer. I don't regret it though, especially now," she smiled softly as she looked down at her flat stomach, "I just hope we can get married before hand… Oh my gosh, I haven't even told him yet! Iggy, how do I tell him? You're the fortune teller!"

_I guess I can see where Nashi got the blabbering from,_ Iggy thought, laughing as he scratched the back of his head, "Uh, the sooner you tell him, the sooner he'll propose?" He remembered the picture of his parents' wedding, and a light bulb sparked, "Make sure it's soon! I see a bump in a white gown…" he brought his left hand to his chin and looked up, trying to play off that he was having a wise thought.

"Great, I'm going to be a whale in my wedding pictures!"  
"You'll be a beautiful whale?"  
"That didn't help, Iggy…"

**..~~~..  
**

**In the Future**

The house had been eerily quiet since Natsu had left, something that was normally rare since the twins seemed to always fight. No one spoke of the outburst, of Iggy, or of the supposed 'promise' Natsu had growled towards Gray. In fact, the night came and left as morning took hold; even at breakfast all that was heard were the tiny _clink_ of silverware hitting ceramic plates.

Ame had the room closest to her parents, and barely slept as she heard the low muffled voices of her parent's arguing about the events that had gone on.

'_Darling you promised...'  
'I know, I know! But what do I do?'  
'What you do best. Solve the problem.'  
'Juvia if it was that easy-'  
'But it is Gray-sama...'_  
_'All you have to do is get to the bottom of it. We all know Natsu is right about knowing when someone lies...'_  
_'So you're on his side?'_  
_'There is no side! Only the right one! Iggy is like our son, and I know Ame… I know she's-'_

She never heard the rest of the conversation, she opted out of any other noise but the rainstorm she was forming outside, letting the drops hitting the pavement take her to another world. She promised to Iggy that she'd take care of it - but now a whole two days had passed and somehow her nerves had gone from absolutely controlled to absolutely crazy. Poking at the sausages her mother had placed on her plate, she scooched the chair back and raised, "I'm not hungry."  
"Honey, have one more saus-"  
"Mom," she let herself see her mother, the beauty that she held always radiant, "I'm not hungry."

Walking away she heard her older brother snort and her sister, Arashi, whine, "What the… mom if I did that to you, I'd be drenched in water! Dad, why does she get to do that?"  
"Shut up, Ari,"  
"MAKE ME, KORI!"

Ame rolled her eyes as she walked towards her room, only faintly hearing water hit the floor and her siblings annoyed voices as her mother scolded them. A devilish smirk appeared on her face as she opened her door and stepped inside. If it wasn't for the fact that she had recently given up on feeling on the outside, she would've probably screamed at the top of her lungs of how scared shitless she got by her father.

"Dad," she said, breathing in softly, "that was, a bit scary…"  
"Could've fooled me," he shrugged. Currently sitting at the tip of her nightstand was her father, Gray Fullbuster, with his arms folded across his chest and one eyebrow up. What did this mean? "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"  
"Oooh yeah," Gray mused as he stood up from the night stand and walked slowly towards his daughter. He outstretched one of his folded arms and used it to lightly grab Ame's chin, raising it so her eyes and his were locked.

"Ame… you shouldn't hide something this big. We all know Iggy isn't capable-"  
"Dad he's not disabled!" she stomped, moving her head to the side and leaving her father hand up in the air, "All our family and his and just about everyone in Fairy Tail deems him disabled! He was and still is the strongest Celestial mage in our guild!" Gray only looked at his daughter, flailing her arms in the air and stomping around angrily.

"How is it, that as your father, I barely see you do so as smile. Yet when you speak about him or are near him, you… shine?" Gray remembered how he was with his wife, Juvia. He never showed much emotions on the outside - kept to himself and only let his love for her blossom in the lonely four walls they shared for a while. Of course, once kids are in the picture and take over all your heart, acting 'cool' and not showing emotion goes out the window. His daughter didn't look at him as he said those last words, she only trained her eyesight to a certain corner of her room, where a big stuffed teddy bear Iggy had got her lay comfortably.

"You love him," he said, the words escaping his mouth a small tint of jealousy taking a hold of him. This was his last little girl… his last child, and she was leaving from his grasp just as quickly as the other two had done. Ame kept staring at the teddy bear, and instantly missed his warm fingers interlacing with hers, the soft kisses he'd place both on her cheeks and lips, and the whispered compliments he'd give her randomly throughout the day.

She only let her head bow a little before she breathed in shakily, "he left."  
"Where?"  
She looked up at him, a single tear falling from her right cheek, "to the past… all because of me."

* * *

**idk whut to saay :l  
I'm REALLY trying to update ASAP, but right now.. whenever I can, I will!  
love you all sooo much :3 & thanks for le support!  
**

"**Wow, Nina, you really know how to make an audience cringe…"  
**Yea well, sorry to break it to you Iggy but your family history is pretty bad.  
**"Uh, but that's over! Now I have everything even my a-"  
**IGGY YOU'RE RUINING IT FOR THE READERZ.  
**"STOP SCREAMING AT MY SON!"  
**Natsu chill out bro, or I'll make no more smut scenes for you and Lucy. :D  
**"Natsu, honestly you are such a perv. Two kids and you still fall for that? Nina can't do anything behind the curtains…"**  
I will kill you off again woman.  
**"BUT WHY?! I love my mom! Like, really Nina it's NOT fair I mean, I've been a good person and I even almost kissed Caleb-"**  
**"Almost? But we-"**  
**"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"**  
**"SHUT IT. And like, yeah, I'm an awesome person and because of that don't kill my mom again!"**  
… Nashi, you… you're… I love you xD

**OKAY BAI.**

**-Nina**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey loves! :)  
I'm so glad you all enjoy this story so much… 50 reviews is a blessing!  
I don't know how this chapter will turn up, since I'm currently going through a rough patch… (Sometimes, my feelings come out in writing ;c I'LL TRY NOT TO BREAK YOUR HEARTS!) But then again I have a certain boyfriend who makes things amazingly awesome so uhh… HAVE HOPE :D**

**Love you all :3  
Enjoy~!**

* * *

**Note:** _Italics _are snippets of the character's past; _different from the flashback_.

It had been two days since Iggy had shown up nineteen years into the past and now as he looked at the calendar tacked on the mission board; he couldn't help but to feel nervous. He had five days left; five days to figure out a way to keep his mother from dying in six years' time. Letting out a shaky breath he brought his hand up to comb his hair, his right hand tucked into his pocket as usual.

"Looking for a job I see?"  
Igneel stayed staring at the board, his expression fixed in the same nervous look as he chewed on his lip. Erza raised an eyebrow, her hand finding her hip as she stared at him in concern, "Iggy?" Blinking, Igneel heard his name faintly and turned to his right, flinching at first by how close his aunt had come to his side, "Woah, Erza… I-I didn't see you." The redhead stared at him, her eyebrows furrowing, "You didn't hear me either?" The blonde boy only gawked, did she really call him? He didn't hea- _oh, right_.

He turned to her, his hazel eyes staring into her own brown ones, and she immediately felt an odd connection. Looking down to his left side, embarrassment showing in his flushed cheeks, Iggy combed his sandy hair away from his left ear, "I'm a bit deaf on my right side…"  
Erza stared at the ear, her once hardened expression turning soft, the tight line that her lips had being replaced by her mouth parting slightly. Her face went red, "I-Iggy, I'm sorry - I just came to tell you those jobs are for Fairy Tail members only, I didn't…"  
"It's okay!" he interjected, combing his hair back to hide his ear and putting his left arm in front of him as a sign for her not to worry, "I'm not used to people going on my right side, usually back at home everyone knew to speak to me on the left."

Saying it with such ease only made the redhead feel more concerned; he was so young, yet so full of spirit even with his disability. "I'm sorry," she said again, her head bowing, "You can punish me if you'd like…" Iggy stared at her, his eyebrow raising in content, _she never changed_. "Okay," he said, raising his left shoulder up and down, "If you say so."

Erza let her head shot back up, eyes wide with surprise, "Really?" Most members were already noticing the small interaction going on, some even laughed in awe as Iggy took on Titania's plea for punishment. "Buy me a strawberry cheesecake, and watch me eat it," he said smugly, holding down his laughter as he saw his aunt's face go from being surprised to depressed. "C-Cake? Watch you eat…my cake?"  
"Yup." She stared at him then, her depressed mood turning around as she smirked, "I like you, kid." She brought her hand up and patted his head, messing up his sandy hair in the process as she chuckled lightly. Igneel couldn't help but blush, he'd become a bit homesick - usually Erza would hug him or give him a peck in the cheek back at home, Levy would always read with him and make him lunch, and Juvia… well she did enough by blessing him with Ame.

_Ame_, he thought, not realizing Erza grabbing his shoulder and walking him towards the bar where Mirajane was waiting for any orders. It had been two days since he'd left and had seen Ame's face; his heart beat flew for a second, realization hitting him on whether or not his father had found out of his disappearance. _Well, there's nothing that can be done now_, he felt his body move automatically, sitting on the stool Erza pointed at and facing Mira as the girls chatted and ordered some food.

He thought then of the troubles he could cause if this mission did not go well, what would happen? Would he return back to the same fate he holds, or would it be worse? Questions rose all around him, engulfing his mind with endless possible outcomes of this situation. He had to find a way to get closer to his parents, or just to his mother… but how?  
"- looking at missions?"

Igneel came back to his senses, catching the last line his aunt had said, "huh?" Erza only laughed, "I sat to your left so you could hear better, and now you don't hear me again? I'm beginning to think you have selective hearing." The young Dragneel could only laugh nervously, licking his lips and then biting the inside of his lower lips, "I uh- was having a vision," he spoke, not really understanding his own plan but letting his word vomit work some magic.

"A vision?" gasped Mirajane, who was currently holding a small bundle in her hands… _bundle?_ "Is that Lance?!" Igneel blurted out, and immediately Mirajane's face turned into one of motherly pride, "Why yes, this is baby Lance! He was born the same night you got punched in the face!" The fact that the white haired woman said it so lightly, made both Erza and Igneel stare at her in disbelief, "Uh, congrats?" the boy muttered, before looking down and noticing a small tuft of white hair coming out from the bundle.

"He's going to dye a piece of it green like his father's hair," Iggy spoke nonchalantly, "So don't get too mad at his actions-"  
"G-green?! L-like my husbands?!"

The blonde never got to apologize for his word vomit, since Erza grabbed his shoulder with an iron grip and led him away from the bar. "Maybe you should leave out some fortune telling," the redhead chuckled, "especially with women who've just had kids and are still hormonally imbalanced." Iggy only let out another nervous laugh, looking back slightly and watching Mirajane holding up the small bundle and talking to him as if he could understand her words.

"I guess I'll give you your strawberry cake at a later time," Erza spoke, "since Mira is apparently busy lecturing her days-old son…" her eyes stayed on her friend, watching how she kissed her child's small head and cradled him back into her arms. A small emotion tugged at her stomach, and the thought of blue hair came to her mind before it was whisked away that same moment.

Igneel stared at her, his eyes were soft as he faintly remembered his uncle's past - Jellal was currently in an S-class mission with Gildarts, they wouldn't be back until he was born three years later. _She must be so sad, _he thought, _only Nashi knows her real feelings since she's her goddaughter._

He noticed her still staring at Mira and decided to intervene by clearing his throat. Her head snapped towards him, and a small smile appeared, "Sorry about that, I don't usually space out…" Iggy only waved his hand, "It's okay, Erza. I just wanted to ask, can't I just… shadow a mission?" The redhead stayed quiet, before shaking her head, "We don't usually bring non-guild members with us to missions unless they have a key role in it. And even then… it's a dangerous task."

Rejection wasn't ever a big deal for Iggy, in fact, he didn't mind it much since he usually would try it out anyways and suffer the consequences - he had his father's egotistical ways to blame for that. Yet receiving this rejection was a hard blow… _how the hell am I supposed to get closer? Five days…_

"Might an old man like myself join into this discussion?"

Igneel's train of thought was cut short - a memory of that familiar voice bringing out a single picture in his mind. "Gramps," Iggy spoke, and lifted his once lowered head (due to the sad rejection Erza has just given him) to meet the bright smile held on his godfather's face. Erza only lifted an eyebrow; usually no one outside of the guild would call him anything but Makarov. "He was asking me if he could join in on a mission-"  
"or shadow one…" Iggy grumbled,  
"or shadow one," Erza repeated, annoyed by him cutting her off, "but I informed him that only guild members can come into missions. It's too dangerous and a great liability to have someone in our miss-"

Erza's explanation fell short as she saw her Master raise a hand to silence her. She blinked, feeling a bit uneasy by the serious face he held. "And who ever said he wasn't a member of this guild?" Makarov questioned, secretly wishing on his lucky stars that his prediction would be correct. He looked over to the small Dragneel, yet again the hazel eyes being a clear sign of resemblance to his mother, "Show her your mark with pride."

The blonde stared at him dumbfounded; this was definitely not a part of the plan. In fact, this just wasn't supposed to happen at all; staying on the 'down low' was the plan. _How does he even know? Is he bluffing? _Looking at his Godfather's face for only a second longer gave him his answer: _he's totally fucking bluffing_.

Slowly, Igneel rose and used his left hand to zip down the gray jacket he had since the day he arrived in the past. Keeping his right arm covered, he slowly inched off the left sleeve and let his whole arm show for the guild members to see. He turned sideways; his eyes staring at the redhead whose lips were parted, and showed off the red guild mark etched into his left shoulder. "I guess I should've told you before…" he said hoarsely, momentarily veering his eyes towards his Godfather, who only smiled even wider.

**_- Flashback -_**

"_What do you mean he does not exist?" Makarov looked at the boy with astonishment. For all he knew, to beat Natsu would take a whole lot more than just a mage or dragon; he was one of the strongest, in fact he had just become an S-Class a few months ago. Iggy only stared back, his eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to bite back the tears of seeing his Godfather's face as he described his father. _

"_After mo-... Lucy died, it wasn't the same. He was left with a raging six year old who spat fire out when angry and a three year old that only knew how to cry." Iggy swallowed hard, his voice shaking as he remembered the sadness his father always had, "The fact that he lost her was devastating. Aunt Erza and my godmother, Levy, took turns taking care of Nashi and I while Wendy tried to use some spell to calm my dad down. He would go on suicide missions, pick fights, and hurt himself… and his response was that mom only must've felt worse when she died." _

_He stared down at both of his hands, his eyes staying fixed on his right hand where a sickly green met the soft pink of his real palm. "He quieted down after his third attempt. Erza beat him herself, and screamed at him to remember that Lucy was still alive - in his heart, and his children's blood. But even though the suicide missions stopped as well as the fights, he just resorted into hurting himself. My dad's body is filled with sickly scars, his left eye holding the biggest scar from when Erza slashed at him with her staff."_

_The room stayed quiet, Makarov only being able to stare with wide eyes, a single tear dropping onto the white blanket. Iggy looked up to him, his eyes soft and filled with a mixture of hurt and acceptance to what his family had become, "You were the one that made sure Erza beat him well, in fact at his hospital bed, you came in and threatened to take us away from him. But I guess that's what a Godfather should do. I never thanked you for it… and when you-..." the blonde boy took a deep breath, his back shuddered as the image of the man standing in front of him changed into him coughing up blood and skin turning pale._

_Iggy flinched as he felt warm arms wrap around his body, his eyes closing as he took in the scent of his Godfather. Makarov only sighed, sniffling momentarily as he used his hand to push his godson's head towards his shoulder, "It is an honor to be the Godfather of a boy so talented and filled with bravery." He pushed Iggy back, seeing now the boys eyes red as he tried to look away, "Don't hide the tears, child. Your father has cried many times, in front of me as well as others. Only a real human cries, those that don't… well, they don't know what it is to live."_

**_- End Flashback -_**

It had only been a few seconds that he had shown his mark before a certain yell pierced through the room, "You copycat!" Immediately every person turned their head to the attention of the grumpy pink-headed man that was stomping over to where three annoyed faces stared back.

"You got me in trouble with Luce, though I don't know why since you practically threatened her life!" Natsu raged, letting his finger poke at Iggy's chest, "And then… Gramps!" he turned his head towards the old man who only burped as a response to his attention, "You let him be in this guild and.. and… GET MY SAME MARK?!"  
"Romeo has it," Iggy responded with an annoyed look.  
"Romeo is cool, you aren't!" his father retorted, cocking his head and sniffing his son, "You smell like my girlfriend."  
Iggy rolled his eyes in annoyance, "That's because she came to visit me to apologize for you trying to break my face!"

If it weren't for Erza being so close and Makarov having the magical power to grow his limbs, Igneel would've yet again landed in the hospital for his stupid actions; the whole guild started yelling and laughing and going on with their merry business as they found the fight between two people absolutely normal. The air around the table that the Dragneel's were currently at went tense, both son and father staring at each other with anger coursing through their veins.

"Enough!" a female voice rang through the room as the sounds of small heels hitting the wooden floor came towards the table. Of course, no one else in the already-loud room could hear the heels but when you are given the gift of good hearing - you hear it all.

A blonde woman only a few inches taller that Iggy stomped forward and looked at both men with a death glare. "Natsu," she spoke, and immediately Iggy's father's neck snapped towards his mother, "sit." The pink haired man yelled in frustration as he grabbed the nearest wooden chair and sat on it, his arms folded across his chest irritatingly as he stared at Igneel. If it weren't for the tense atmosphere, the blonde boy would've fallen to his knees laughing; _he just followed Lucy's commands… like it's a normal thing_.

"Iggy! What is this? You just got out of the hospital room only to almost get sent back by my idiotic boyfriend, again?!" The small bunch of people around the set table looked back in terror, since Lucy barely ever grew this upset. Iggy furrowed his eyebrows, "Lucy, I was just showing my guild mark to Erza and Gramps when all of the sudden Natsu came charging in! How is it fair that I get in trouble?!"  
"Because you went along with it and fought back," Lucy said matter-of-factly, her chin rose as she stared at the young boy. Igneel's cheeks burned as he looked down, pouting as he took note that already onto the third day of being in the past he had gotten his mother to scold him.

"He's telling the truth," Erza said, purposely ignoring Natsu yelling as to why no one took his side, "It was my fault initially since I didn't know he was one of us…" the redhead turned her face towards the blonde boy and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry about that, again." Lucy only blinked at Iggy, a wide smile slowly showing on her face as she jumped up and brought her hands together in surprise, "Iggy! That's amazing! You're family now!"  
"Yipee…" Natsu grumbled, rolling his eyes as he focused on his girlfriend, his lip twitching as he tried to hold a smile from seeing Lucy happy.

Makarov stared at the scene in front of him: his godson standing with his arms folded and glaring in annoyance at his father who has trying to hold a smile as he saw his wife happily clapping at a new member. An idea sparked in his mind, as he remembered the small plan Iggy and he had devised to try and get the blonde boy closer to his mother.

"_My true problem wasn't trying to not get noticed… the problem was getting my mother to notice just me," Iggy said as he raised his hand towards his face to flatten his blonde hair and cover his scarred ear. Makarov pursed his lips, feeling his moustache tickle his nose, "Well my godson, you did a good job getting noticed by everyone in my opinion…"  
"Yea, now everyone noticed me as the kid who got punched in the face!"  
"Well no one told you to just blatantly tell Lucy she was going to die."  
"I was nervous!"  
_

_Both stared at each other, the older man calmly while the other folded his arms and had his cheeks puff up in anger. Makarov laughed loudly, "You act like your mother! She gives me that face when I act perv-... nevermind." The old man saw his godson raise an eyebrow and open his lips to speak, but he luckily waved it off and began a new topic as he tried to hide the embarrassment clearly seen on his red cheeks. "We must figure a way to get you close to her, but I must warn you - your father has just recently marked your mother, meaning right now wherever she is he is tagging along."_

_The master felt the question arising in his godson's mind and let out a sly smile, "I'm sure she'll tell you in due time what getting 'marked' is,"  
"I wasn't going to ask!"  
"Don't lie to me, boy. Anyways, perhaps we can get you three together somehow…"_

The timing was perfect - Iggy had just showed off his mark and now was free to grab any mission. "I suppose since you're a new member," Makarov's voice rose as a smile began to show on his lips, "perhaps you should get a feel of the kind of missions Fairy Tail takes…"  
"What?!" Natsu interjected, only to be ignored completely.  
"You should definitely go on a mission with guild members who are experienced,"  
"Huh?!" Again he spoke with his voice higher than before, only to still be ignored.  
"I'm guessing maybe a dragon slayer? And his partner of course," Makarov chuckled.  
"I know where this is going! N-" "SHUT UP!" Lucy cut off Natsu, smacking him behind the head and hearing a growl come from his throat as he gritted his teeth.  
"Someone like Natsu and Lucy!" The master finished, his smile wide enough to look like it covered his whole face. Iggy smiled back, their eyes meeting for a second to prove the understanding of this new mission. In the background, Lucy clapped and Natsu only whined about having extra 'luggage' like Iggy to hold.

Lucy filled in the small space that was left between her and Iggy and bent over just a bit to meet his eyes, "Don't worry," she spoke softly, "Natsu is just being grumpy but I promise you'll have the best first mission ever. We won't let anything happen to you. Promise!" She closed her eyes and cocked her head as she smiled at him, and immediately Iggy's heart stopped beating.

His mother was so kind, so breathtakingly beautiful. He couldn't stop himself as his body tipped forward and his left hand reached in for a hug; he felt his mother flinch for a second in surprise only to then feel two warm hands wrap around his waist.  
"HEY! NO TOUCHING!"  
A choked up thank you escaped his lips, ignoring his father's yelling from the chair he was sitting on, as Lucy only chuckled and let go patting his head in the process, "You're so sweet, Iggy! AND NATSU WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!"

* * *

**In The Future**

They had just set camp a while back; stars already speckled in the sky as they started a fire and pitched the tents. He had left his daughter and Caleb outside, using the excuse of being tired to escape the obvious tension he found himself having with his daughter.

Right after having explained Yukino's mission and having a rather nervous Caleb map out the kingdom of Sin, they set out the next morning and were able to cover enough ground (by train, mostly) to end up just on the outskirts of the border between Sin and Desierto. Come morning, they would board the ferry and find themselves in the land 'filled with malice', as Caleb had put it.

Natsu's head hurt, as he tried to focus on his memories throughout the day, and finding nothing out of the ordinary - Iggy was nowhere to be seen. His head lay on a faded pink pillow that had once belonged to his wife, positioning himself towards the tent's opening to keep an ear out for his daughter and her friend. _Don't lie to yourself_, he thought, _soon enough she will be out the door; it's just like when you met Lucy over twenty years ago_. He sighed heavily, his eyes closed and his thoughts racing while feeling his own hand reach his temple and massage it softly.

"_You shouldn't be so tough on him…_"  
His eyes opened a bit as he heard a familiar male voice, his heightened senses working tenfold as he eavesdropped into the conversation.

**.-.-.-.-.**

"Nashi… I'm being serious, you shouldn't be so-"  
"I heard you the first time," the pinkette said, her hearing momentarily concentrating on the tent a few feet away from them and sighing inwardly as she heard the soft breathing of her father, letting her know he was fast asleep.

"Well if you heard, why didn't you answer?" Caleb pressed, his face showing no emotion as he watched his crush play with the fire and even eat some of it. The once barely noticeable stars were now lighting up the sky, small constellations with unknown names hiding behind clouds or gracing the two with their presence. He looked back down from the sky and fixed his vision onto the back of Nashi's head, understanding that by her tense frame and noncompliant answering meant the subject was to be dropped immediately.

Sighing, the dark haired boy brought his hands to his side and leaned back on the ground; he moved his fingers around the soft dirt and closed his eyes as he listened to the rustling of the trees. He was close to his home, as well as his hell on Earth. After his near death experience and having his head wanted by the King himself, Caleb had promised himself he'd never venture to the land where he was born. Yet here he was, sitting on the border of Desierto in a forest not far from the ferry port and about to venture towards Sin in the morning… all for a girl.

He couldn't even get them a small inn because of the close alias Desierto had with Sin, meaning that perhaps they too would be interested in the prize money for a certain twenty-year olds head. Of course, the Dragneel family hadn't mind since most of the times Nashi had caused too much commotion (or her father) and would end up burning the place down.

Nashi looked behind her, the fire cackling as she prodded it blindly with a stick, and noticed how calm and collected Caleb was even after she had given him attitude. She could say sorry, as she did so many times before when she'd snap at him, but lately he'd just stay quiet and watch her - letting her own steam cool off before she ran back to him. She exhaled annoyingly from her nose as she pouted at the thought of him knowing her so well. _As if he knows me_, she thought as she pouted, _he doesn't know a single thing!_

It was hard to hold a serious face when he could literally feel Nashi's gaze on him, even hear her exhales of annoyance as he just let her do her own thing until she felt comfortable talking. He was about to open his mouth and say something rather perverted but found his eyes opening quickly as he felt small pressure reside in his crossed legs. Bringing his head down, he was greeted by an annoyed look from a pinkette with her cheeks flared as she rested her head rather comfortably on his legs.

"I'm bored," she said flatly, looking first to his right blue eye and then his left green one.  
"So you flop onto my legs?" Caleb retorted, a small smirk appearing on his face. Nashi nodded softly, then let her eyes veer towards the burning wood just feet away from them. He chuckled then, looking back up to the stars to hide his own burning cheeks at their closeness. "The stars are so bright tonight," he whispered, and felt Nashi's body shiver. He looked back down and found that her head was now turned up towards the sky, but her eyes were fixed on his navy blue shirt.

"Why don't you look at them?" he questioned, his eyes trying to reveal the answer she was about to say before it left her lips. "Because it reminds me of my mom," she said weakly, " and she was the brightest star of them all." Caleb brought his hand towards her face, cupping her cheek and letting his thumb dry off a single tear that fell down her left eye. "Can you tell me how she looked like again? Please?" he asked, his voice soothing Nashi's nerves.

She breathed in and out and closed her eyes as her mouth moved automatically, "She had blonde hair, and it was… the shiniest and most beautiful hair I'd ever seen; I remember always trying to touch it every time I had the chance. Her eyes where the color of honey and the smile she gave me or my brother or even dad made us all melt. Whenever I was feeling sick or I got into a fight at school, she'd always hug me… her hugs were the warmest, even warmer than the fire I breathe and eat."

"She was super smart, in fact she was right behind Aunt Levy. She loved to read and since I wasn't so great at it, she'd sit behind me when I was reading a book and teach me how to pronounce the words. And then she'd kiss me on my cheek and tickle me for a good minute every time I got it right." Nashi opened her eyes again, they weren't moist and she wasn't feeling like she would vomit any second or need to pound something to ashes; in fact, she felt like the heaviness in her heart was slowly slipping away - it always was like this, when she was with him.

Caleb looked into her eyes, "Do you miss her?"  
"Everyday," she whispered, "Everyday I wake up and imagine she's home and kissing my dad and ruffling Iggy's hair and nagging at me to dress more lady like and show off what I have-"  
"I like the sound of that," Caleb chuckled, only to have Nashi clucked her tongue and roll her eyes, smiling softly, "You're such a guy," she laughed.  
"I'll take that as a good thing," he winked and let his smile widen, his one crooked tooth next to his left incisor showing.

Nashi laughed a little louder, covering her mouth and snickering like Caleb, hoping to not wake her father. "I like your tooth," she said, pressing her lips together to stop herself from smiling so widely. "My tooth?" he questioned, and smiled again, except using his tongue to point at the crooked one, "'his one?" Nashi giggled again and nodded her head, her bangs falling into her eyes.

"It's… not perfect, I guess? I don't know! I just like it."  
"So you like my imperfection? Should I assume the rest of me is perfect?"  
"Why of couuuuurse!" Nashi finished whispered, letting herself make a silly face as she sarcastically agreed with Caleb. The said boy laughed harder, his face reaching down towards Nashi as she laughed as well, feeling his dark hair brush her cheeks softly. They spent like that for a couple more minutes, making a silly face and watching the other laugh. His hand was still cupping her cheek, and she brought up her hand every little bit to poke his nose or cheek and even brush a black hair away from his eye. As the laughing seized, they stayed in the same position, inches apart from each other's lips and breathing heavily after their small giggle fits.

"You're… beautiful," he breathed, a small smile coming onto his face, the same crooked tooth poking out and making Nashi's heart skip a beat. She rolled her eyes again to hide her embarrassment yet kept her face inches from his, "Only… like that… with you."  
"Good."

Without a second to lose, Caleb brought his face down towards Nashi's and let his lips meet hers. They were soft and warm, with the taste of what seemed like burnt marshmallows, and he found himself pressing his onto hers more as he hoped to let the moment live on forever. Nashi only felt her eyes widen at the feel of his lips on hers, yet she didn't move, didn't even fidget. Her eyes became heavy, until she let herself close them completely and feel his equally soft lips touch hers.

She let go after a few more seconds, using her hands to push his chest upwards and off of her as she sat upright and quickly turned in her sitting position to face him. His cheeks were red, as she assumed hers were too, and he was breathing heavily like her too - the kiss had literally taken their breath away. The only noises she could hear was the soft breathing of her father and the cackling of the fire.

"Sorry… I-" Caleb began, only to be stopped by having Nashi go towards him this time, letting her lips falls into his. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and brought him closer to her, the taste of his lips becoming almost impossible to resist. He let his hands reached out and grabbed her small frame, one wrapping around her waist as the other rested behind her head. Their lips parted and tongues met, small smiles coming from both of them and they breathed out small laughs and enjoyed each other's taste.

**.-.-.-.-.**

"_Everyday I wake up and imagine she's home and kissing my dad and ruffling Iggy's hair and nagging at me to dress more lady like…_"  
Natsu bit his lip, trying to hold down his sorrow as he continued to breathe softly so that Nashi wouldn't notice that he was awake. _She thinks of you daily_, he thought as he brought the small blanket covering him over his ear, blocking out any more of their conversation, _and she thinks of us together, Lucy_.

He closed his eyes and breathed softly, letting his mind wander to the first time he had met Lucy and how he saved her from the fake Salamander. The tight line he held in his mouth quivered, a small smile appearing, _You were so beautiful, you still are - in heaven_.

"_Why of couuuuurse!_"  
He heard Nashi's laughter and instantly felt jealous, _when was the last time I made her laugh?_ He thought about it, and found himself even more hurt as he remembered her last laughter being probably when something bad happened to him - like he'd get beat by Gray or punched by Erza for eating her cake. But making a joke? Making her laugh by tickling her or perhaps spending time with her? _Nothing_, he thought, _nothing at all_.

Exhaling a little rougher, he bit his lip until he tasted metal and found himself relaxed again. _It will change_, he licked his lower lip and reached to his pants pocket to touch a small silver key, _I have faith in my son_. Instantaneously, a vision came to his mind of Lucy make him sit on a chair and smacking him behind the head for being rude to a certain blonde boy whose face was still a blur. He could see gramps smiling widely as he gave him and Lucy a mission with this boy, and found himself annoyed at his existence.

_A blonde boy…  
_Natsu's eyes open widely as he scrambled away from his blanket and ran out of the tent, "Nashi, I saw him! I saw- …" The scene in front of Natsu was not one he ever thought he'd see - Caleb and Nashi had just finished disentangling from each other and breathing heavily. Looking towards his daughter, he found her lips red and puffy and Caleb's chest rising and falling rapidly as he looked towards the floor. "D-Did I…" Natsu stood awkwardly, his heart beat racing in anger but trying to control it from coming out.

"N-No, nothing Dad… I…" Nashi stood up and walked hastily over to his dad, hearing Caleb getting up in the background. "What happened? What did you see?" Her father stared back down at her, momentarily looking at her with his eyebrows furrowed, _she's nervous and stuttering… and her temperature is higher than it should be…_

"Dad?"  
Blinking, her father came back to his senses, getting hyper all over again as he smiled proudly, "Your brother… he just received a mission with your mother and I."  
"What?!" Nashi said, her eyes sparkling and then looking to her side and smiling at Caleb. _She's smiling at him… and looking and him… like I did, with Lucy. _Her father looked down at her, his heart tightening as he realized what was going on with his daughter at this very instance. "And…" Natsu said looking triumphantly, "I didn't punch him this time! Although I am annoyed by his presence apparently…" he cocked his head and looked up towards the stars, a small smirk playing on his lips.

He heard the sound of laughter escape from his daughter's lips and quickly looked down in surprise, "I'm sooooo proud of you, Daddy!" she said giggling, before bringing her head towards his chest and hugging him tightly.

_Daddy? _Natsu didn't know what to do. First she laughed, then she actually called him Daddy, and now she was… hugging him? _Of course_, he said looking towards Caleb, who was staring back at them with a warm smile, _I acted like this too,_ he brought his scarred arms around his daughter, pecking her softly in the head and silently thanking the stars,_ once I knew I had to mark the one I loved_.

* * *

**OHMYGOSH, I took forever and a day to finish this chapter.  
I hope you guys liked it ;o  
Next chapter, we get to finally see Sin!  
Leave me summm luuuv ;***

**-Nina**


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